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INDIAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

TEXTBOOK FOR CLASS XI

2018-19

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© National Council of Educational© National Council of Educational© National Council of Educational© National Council of Educational© National Council of Educational

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FOREWORD

The National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2005, recommends that

children’s life at school must be linked to their life outside the school.

This principle marks a departure from the legacy of bookish learning

which continues to shape our system and causes a gap between the

school, home and community. The syllabi and textbooks developed on

the basis of NCF signify an attempt to implement this basic idea. They

also attempt to discourage rote learning and the maintenance of sharp

boundaries between different subject areas. We hope these measures

will take us significantly further in the direction of a child-centred system

of education outlined in the National Policy on Education (1986).

The success of this effort depends on the steps that school principals

and teachers will take to encourage children to reflect on their own

learning and to pursue imaginative activities and questions. We must

recognise that, given space, time and freedom, children generate new

knowledge by engaging with the information passed on to them by adults.

Treating the prescribed textbook as the sole basis of examination is one

of the key reasons why other resources and sites of learning are ignored.

Inculcating creativity and initiative is possible if we perceive and treat

children as participants in learning, not as receivers of a fixed body of

knowledge.

These aims imply considerable change in school routines and mode

of functioning. Flexibility in the daily time-table is as necessary as rigour

in implementing the annual calendar so that the required number of

teaching days are actually devoted to teaching. The methods used for

teaching and evaluation will also determine how effective this textbook

proves for making children’s life at school a happy experience, rather

than a source of stress or boredom. Syllabus designers have tried to

address the problem of curricular burden by restructuring and

reorienting knowledge at different stages with greater consideration for

child psychology and the time available for teaching. The textbook

attempts to enhance this endeavour by giving higher priority and space

to opportunities for contemplation and wondering, discussion in small

groups, and activities requiring hands-on experience.

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The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)appreciates the hard work done by the textbook development committeeresponsible for this book. We wish to thank the Chairperson of theadvisory group in Social Sciences, Professor Hari Vasudevan and theChief Advisor for this book, Professor Tapas Majumdar for guiding thework of this committee. Several teachers contributed to the developmentof this textbook; we are grateful to their principals for making thispossible. We are indebted to the institutions and organisations whichhave generously permitted us to draw upon their resources, materialand personnel. We are especially grateful to the members of the NationalMonitoring Committee, appointed by the Department of Secondary andHigher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development under theChairpersonship of Professor Mrinal Miri and Professor G.P. Deshpande,for their valuable time and contribution. As an organisation committedto systemic reform and continuous improvement in the quality of itsproducts, NCERT welcomes comments and suggestions which will enableus to undertake further revision and refinement.

Director

New Delhi National Council of Educational20 December 2005 Research and Training

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TEXTBOOK DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

CHAIRPERSON, ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR TEXTBOOKS IN SOCIAL SCIENCES

AT HIGHER SECONDARY LEVEL

Hari Vasudevan, Professor, Department of History, University of Calcutta,Kolkata

CHIEF ADVISOR

Tapas Majumdar, Emeritus Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, NewDelhi

MEMBERS

Bharat C. Thakur, PGT, Government Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya, SurajmalVihar, Delhi

Gopinath Perumula, Lecturer, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai

Jaya Singh, Lecturer, DESS, NCERT, New Delhi

Nishit Ranjan Das, PGT, New Alipore Multipurpose School, Behala, Kolkata

Naushad Ali Azad, Professor, Department of Economics, Jamia MilliaIslamia, New Delhi

Neeraja Rashmi, Reader, DESS, NCERT, New Delhi

Rama Gopal, Professor, Department of Economics, Annamalai University,Annamalai Nagar, Tamil Nadu

Pratima Kumari, Lecturer, DERPP, NCERT, New Delhi

Poonam Bakshi, Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics, PunjabUniversity, Chandigarh

R. Srinivasan, S.G. Lecturer, Department of Economics, Arignar AnnaGovernment Arts College, Villupuram, Tamil Nadu

Sabitha Patnaik, PGT, Demonstration School, Regional Institute ofEducation, Sachivalaya Marg, Bhubaneswar

Sharmista Banerjee, Headmistress, Bidya Bharti Girls High School, Kolkata

MEMBER–COORDINATOR

M.V. Srinivasan, Lecturer, DESS, NCERT, New Delhi

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Many friends and colleagues have helped in preparing this textbook. TheNational Council of Educational Research and Training acknowledgesM. Karpagam, Lecturer, Department of Economics, Meenakshi College,Chennai; J. John, Director, Centre for Education and Communication, NewDelhi; Pratyusa K. Mandal, Reader, DESS, NCERT, New Delhi; NandanaReddy, Director (Development), Concern for Working Children, Bangalore;V. Selvam, Research Scholar, Centre for Study of Regional Development andSatish Jain, Professor, Centre for Economic Studies and Planning,Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Pooja Kapoor, Modern School,Barakhamba Road, New Delhi; Priya Vaidya, Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, LodhiEstate, New Delhi; and Nalini Padmanabhan, DTEA Senior SecondarySchool, Janakpuri, New Delhi for providing their feedback and inputs.

The Council expresses its gratitude to Jan Breman and Parthiv Shahfor using photographs from their book, Working in the mill no more, publishedby Oxford University Press, Delhi. Some stories were taken from the book,Everybody Loves a Good Drought, authored by P. Sainath and published byPenguin Books, New Delhi. A photo relating to farmers committing suicideshas been used from The Hindu. A few photographs and text materials onenvironmental issues have been used from the State of India’s Environment

1 and 2 published by the Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi.The Council thanks the authors, copyright holders and publishers of thesereference materials. The Council also acknowledges the Press InformationBureau, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, New Delhi; NationalRail Museum, New Delhi for allowing to use photographs available in theirphoto library. Some photographs were given by S. Thirumal Murugan,Principal, Adhiyaman Matriculation School, Uthangarai, Tamil Nadu; JohnSuresh Kumar, Synodical Board of Social Service; Sindhu Menon of Labour

File, New Delhi; R. C. Das of CIET, New Delhi; Renuka of National Instituteof Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi. The Council acknowledges theircontribution as well.

Special thanks are due to Savita Sinha, Professor and Head, Departmentof Education in Social Sciences and Humanities for her support.

The Council also gratefully acknowledges the contributions ofMamta and Arvind Sharma, DTP Operators; Neena Chandra, Copy Editor;Dillip Kumar Agasti, Proof Reader; and Dinesh Kumar, Incharge Computer

Station in shaping this book. The efforts of the Publication Department,NCERT are also duly acknowledged.

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HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

The main objective of this book, Indian Economic Development, is toexpose the learners to some of the key issues facing the Indian economy.In this process, as young adults, they are expected to be sensitised aboutthese issues, appreciate and learn to critically assess the role of thegovernment in various economic spheres. The book also providesopportunities for knowing what economic resources are and how theseresources are being utilised in different sectors. The learners are alsoexposed to numerical information relating to various aspects of Indianeconomy and India’s economic policies. They are expected to developanalytical skills, interpret the economic events and visualise theeconomic future of India. Nevertheless, conscious effort has been madenot to burden the learner with concepts and data.

With regard to various economic issues and trends, this bookattempts to bring out alternative views on every issue so that studentscan engage themselves in well-informed debates. On completion of thecourse, Indian Economic Development, the learners are expected toacquire skills to understand macroeconomic events which occur aroundthem, and to critically evaluate and interpret the relevant informationprovided by the media.

This course comprises of many activities with each chapter. Thestudents have to carry out such activities under the guidance of theirteachers. In fact, the role of the teacher in enriching the understandingof the Indian economy is greater in this course. The activities include

classroom discussions, collecting information fromgovernment documents such as Economic Survey, archivalmaterials, from newspapers, television and others sources.Learners should also be encouraged to read the works ofscholars on various topics.

For all this to happen, the teachers have to initiate theprocess by taking some steps before starting the course. At the beginningof the academic year, students may be asked to collect clippings fromnewspapers and magazines relating to different topics under the course— five year plans; allocation of funds to various sectors like agriculture,industry, services and for specific causes such as poverty andemployment; key issues of rural development, environment, various

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infrastructures, health, education and energy; and economic events inChina and Pakistan. They have to maintain these clippings, and whenthe teacher starts teaching a particular topic, they can cull out thosenews items, which they have collected from the beginning of the course,and display/use them in the classroom. It is necessary for learners tobuild this collection right from the beginning of the course so that therelevent information is at hand as and when needed; this habit will alsocome in handy during later stages of education.

The schools will have to buy a hard copy of the Economic Surveyfor the latest year. You will notice that information relating to the IndianEconomy is updated in the Economic Survey. It is necessary for thestudents to familiarise themselves with such reports and work onrelevant activities. The statistical tables available as Appendix in theEconomic Survey would be immensely helpful in understanding variousissues.

While discussing a particular issue, discussion of the numericalinformation about the issue is inevitable. For instance, when we talk ofgrowth rates — overall growth rates and growth of different sectors —though it may be necessary for the learners to have a rough idea aboutthe trends in growth rates, they may also be encouraged to learn theprocess involved in reaching the level of growth and factors contributingto the trend rather than mere reproduction of tabular data of growthrate.

You will notice numbered boxes in all chapters. These boxessupplement the information given in the text. Through these boxes, anattempt has been made to lend a humane touch and, thus, bring theissue under discussion closer to real life. However, these boxes, as also‘Work These Out’ activities, are not meant for examination/evaluationpurposes.

Besides the relatively conventional‘Exercises’, each chapter has ‘SuggestedAdditional Activities’ at the end and ‘Work This/These Out’ as part of the text; the more elaborateof these can be treated as projects. Teachers

need to encourage the learners to explore beyond the text while attemptingthese activities.

Understandably, Information Technology facilities may not beavailable in all the schools, however, it is important to take note thatvarious information relating to the Indian economy are available on theInternet. Students need to be introduced to the Internet and encouraged

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to access the websites of the various government departments to getthe required information. For instance, the details relating to povertyare published by the Planning Commission. Students should know that

the Planning Commission of the Government of India hasa website in which various reports relating to differentaspects of India, including poverty, are available in theform of reports. Since it may not be always possible to

procure such reports in hard copy, students and teachers may attemptto download such reports from websites and use them in the classroom.

The reports such as Economic Surveys of the last 10 years areavailable on the website: http://www.budgetindia.nic.in. Manyorganisations change their website addresses. In case a website given inthis book is not accessible, kindly search those websites through searchengines such as Google (www.google.co.in).

For the first time, each chapter has been briefly summed up in the‘Recap’ to facilitate learning. Also, please take note that sources for alltables have not been given with the table as these tables were sourcedfrom various research material which have been covered under‘References’ for each chapter.

We wish to reiterate the fact that the prime objective of this courseon Indian economy is to introduce the basic macro issues of the Indianeconomy to the student community and to initiate a well-informeddebate on our economy. We also stress that collaborative learning is animportant aspect of this course, hence the involvement of students, aswell as, teachers in collecting information on the Indian economy fromother sources is necessary and such collected information should beused as important inputs for both teaching, as well as, learning aboutthe Indian economy.

You can send your queries and feedback relating to any part of this bookto the following address.

Programme Coordinator (Economics)Department of Education in Social SciencesNational Council of Educational Research and TrainingSri Aurobindo MargNew Delhi 110 016.

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WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA,

[SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC]

JUSTICE,

LIBERTY

EQUALITY

FRATERNITY

IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY

HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO

OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.

havingsolemnly resolved to constitute India into a

and to secureto all its citizens :

social, economic andpolitical;

of thought, expression, belief,faith and worship;

of status and of opportunityand to promote among them all;

assuring the dignity ofthe individual and the [unity andintegrity of the Nation];

this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949 do

1

2

1. Subs. by the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976, Sec.2,for "Sovereign Democratic Republic" (w.e.f. 3.1.1977)

2. Subs. by the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976, Sec.2,for "Unity of the Nation" (w.e.f. 3.1.1977)

THE CONSTITUTION OFINDIA

PREAMBLE

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CONTENTS

FOREWORD iii

UNIT I : DEVELOPMENT POLICIES AND EXPERIENCE (1947-1990) 1-35

CHAPTER 1: INDIAN ECONOMY ON THE EVE OF INDEPENDENCE 3

– LOW LEVEL OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT UNDER THE COLONIAL RULE 4

– AGRICULTURAL SECTOR 5

– INDUSTRIAL SECTOR 7

– FOREIGN TRADE 8

– DEMOGRAPHIC CONDITION 9

– OCCUPATIONAL STRUCTURE 10

– INFRASTRUCTURE 11

CHAPTER 2 : INDIAN ECONOMY 1950-1990 16

– THE GOALS OF FIVE YEAR PLANS 19

– AGRICULTURE 22

– INDUSTRY AND TRADE 27

– TRADE POLICY: IMPORT SUBSTITUTION 30

UNIT II : ECONOMIC REFORMS SINCE 1991 36-56

CHAPTER 3 : LIBERALISATION, PRIVATISATION AND GLOBALISATION : AN APPRAISAL 38

– BACKGROUND 39

– LIBERALISATION 41

– PRIVATISATION 44

– GLOBALISATION 45

– INDIAN ECONOMY DURING REFORMS: AN ASSESSMENT 48

UNIT III: CURRENT CHALLENGES FACING THE INDIAN ECONOMY 57-178

CHAPTER 4 : POVERTY 59

– WHO ARE THE POOR? 60

– HOW ARE POOR PEOPLE IDENTIFIED? 63

– THE NUMBER OF POOR IN INDIA 65

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– WHAT CAUSES POVERTY? 68

– POLICIES AND PROGRAMMES TOWARDS POVERTY ALLEVIATION 72

– POVERTY ALLEVIATION PROGRAMMES — A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT 75

CHAPTER 5 : HUMAN CAPITAL FORMATION IN INDIA 82

– WHAT IS HUMAN CAPITAL? 84

– SOURCES OF HUMAN CAPITAL 84

– HUMAN CAPITAL AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 90

– STATE OF HUMAN CAPITAL FORMATION IN INDIA 91

– EDUCATION SECTOR IN INDIA 92

– FUTURE PROSPECTS 94

CHAPTER 6 : RURAL DEVELOPMENT 99

– WHAT IS RURAL DEVELOPMENT? 100

– CREDIT AND MARKETING IN RURAL AREAS 101

– AGRICULTURAL MARKET SYSTEM 104

– DIVERSIFICATION INTO PRODUCTIVE ACTIVITIES 106

– SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND ORGANIC FARMING 110

CHAPTER 7 : EMPLOYMENT: GROWTH, INFORMALISATION AND OTHER ISSUES 116

– WORKERS AND EMPLOYMENT 118

– PARTICIPATION OF PEOPLE IN EMPLOYMENT 119

– SELF-EMPLOYED AND HIRED WORKERS 120

– EMPLOYMENT IN FIRMS, FACTORIES AND OFFICES 123

– GROWTH AND CHANGING STRUCTURE OF EMPLOYMENT 124

– INFORMALISATION OF INDIAN WORKFORCE 127

– UNEMPLOYMENT 130

– GOVERNMENT AND EMPLOYMENT GENERATION 132

CHAPTER 8 : INFRASTRUCTURE 139

– WHAT IS INFRASTRUCTURE? 140

– RELEVANCE OF INFRASTRUCTURE 141

– THE STATE OF INFRASTRUCTURE IN INDIA 141

– ENERGY 144

– HEALTH 150

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CHAPTER 9 : ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 162

– ENVIRONMENT — DEFINITION AND FUNCTIONS 163

– STATE OF INDIA’S ENVIRONMENT 167

– SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 171

– STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 172

UNIT IV : DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCES OF INDIA : A COMPARISON 179-197

WITH NEIGHBOURS

CHAPTER 10 : COMPARATIVE DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCES OF 181

INDIA AND ITS NEIGHBOURS

– DEVELOPMENTAL PATH — A SNAPSHOT VIEW 182

– DEMOGRAPHIC INDICATORS 185

– GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT AND SECTORS 186

– INDICATORS OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 189

– DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES — AN APPRAISAL 190

GLOSSARY 198-206

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Constitution of India

Fundamental Duties

It shall be the duty of every citizen of India —

(a) to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the

National Flag and the National Anthem;

(b) to cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle

for freedom;

(c) to uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India;

(d) to defend the country and render national service when called upon to

do so;

(e) to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all

the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or

sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of

women;

(f) to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture;

(g) to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes,

rivers, wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures;

(h) to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and

reform;

(i) to safeguard public property and to abjure violence;

(j) to strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective

activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour

and achievement;

*(k) who is a parent or guardian, to provide opportunities for education to

his child or, as the case may be, ward between the age of six and

fourteen years.

Note: The Article 51A containing Fundamental Duties was inserted by the Constitution

(42nd Amendment) Act, 1976 (with effect from 3 January 1977).

*(k) was inserted by the Constitution (86th Amendment) Act, 2002 (with effect from

1 April 2010).

Part IV A (Article 51 A)

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DEVELOPMENT POLICIES AND EXPERIENCE

(1947-90)

UNIT

IIIUNIT

I

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The two chapters in this unit give us an overview

of the state of the Indian economy as it was at the

eve of independence till after four decades of

planned development, which was a path that India

chose. This meant that the Government of India

had to take a series of steps such as the

establishment of the Planning Commission and

announcement of five year plans. An overview of

the goals of five year plans and a critical appraisal

of the merits and limitations of planned development

has been covered in this unit.

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After studying this chapter, the learners will

• become familiar with the state of the Indian economy in 1947, the

year of India’s Independence

• understand the factors that led to the underdevelopment and

stagnation of the Indian economy.

INDIAN ECONOMY

ON THE

EVE OF INDEPENDENCE

1

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4 INDIAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1.1 INTRODUCTION

The primary objective of this book,Indian Economic Development, is to

familiarise you with the basic features

of the Indian economy, and itsdevelopment, as it is today, in the

aftermath of Independence. However, it

is equally important to know somethingabout the country’s economic past even

as you learn about its present state and

future prospects. So, let us first look atthe state of India’s economy prior to the

country’s independence and form an

idea of the various considerations thatshaped India’s post-independence

development strategy.

The structure of India’s present-day economy is not just of current

making; it has its roots steeped in

history, particularly in the period whenIndia was under British rule whichlasted for almost two centuries beforeIndia finally won its independence on15 August 1947. The sole purpose ofthe British colonial rule in India wasto reduce the country to being a rawmaterial supplier for Great Britain’s

own rapidly expanding modernindustrial base. An understanding ofthe exploitative nature of thisrelationship is essential for anyassessment of the kind and level ofdevelopment which the Indianeconomy has been able to attain overthe last six and half decades. 1.2

1.2 LOW LEVEL OF ECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENT UNDER THE

COLONIAL RULE

India had an independent economybefore the advent of the British rule.Though agriculture was the mainsource of livelihood for most people,yet, the country’s economy wascharacterised by various kinds ofmanufacturing activities. India wasparticularly well known for itshandicraft industries in the fields ofcotton and silk textiles, metal andprecious stone works etc. Theseproducts enjoyed a worldwide marketbased on the reputation of the finequality of material used and the highstandards of craftsmanship seen in allimports from India.

“India is the pivot of our Empire... If the Empire loses any other part of itsDominion we can survive, but if we lose India, the sun of our Empire will haveset.”

Victor Alexander Vruce, the Viceroy of British India in 1894

Box 1.1: Textile Industry in Bengal

Muslin is a type of cotton textile which had its origin in Bengal, particularly,places in and around Dhaka (spelled during the pre-independence period asDacca), now the capital city of Bangladesh. ‘Daccai Muslin’ had gained worldwidefame as an exquisite type of cotton textile. The finest variety of muslin wascalled malmal. Sometimes, foreign travellers also used to refer to it as malmal

shahi or malmal khas implying that it was worn by, or fit for, the royalty.

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5INDIAN ECONOMY ON THE EVE OF INDEPENDENCE

The economic policies pursued bythe colonial government in India wereconcerned more with the protectionand promotion of the economicinterests of their home country thanwith the development of the Indianeconomy. Such policies brought abouta fundamental change in the structureof the Indian economy — transformingthe country into supplier of rawmaterials and consumer of finishedindustrial products from Britain.

Obviously, the colonial govern-ment never made any sincereattempt to estimate India’s nationaland per capita income . Someindividual attempts which weremade to measure such incomesyielded conflicting and inconsistentresults. Among the notable estimators— Dadabhai Naoroji, William Digby,Findlay Shirras, V.K.R.V. Rao and

R.C. Desai — it was Rao, whose

estimates during the colonial period

was considered very significant.

However, most studies did find that

the country’s growth of aggregate real

output during the first half of the

twentieth century was less than two

per cent coupled with a meagre half

per cent growth in per capita output

per year.

1.3 AGRICULTURAL SECTOR

India’s economy under the British

colonial rule remained fundamentally

agrarian — about 85 per cent

of the country’s population lived

mostly in villages and derived

livelihood directly or indirectly from

agriculture. However, despite being

the occupation of such a large

population, the agricultural sector

Fig. 1.1 India’s agricultural stagnation

under the British colonial rule

Box 1.2: Agriculture DuringPre-British India

The French traveller, Bernier, describedseventeenth century Bengal in thefollowing way: “The knowledge I haveacquired of Bengal in two visits inclinesme to believe that it is richer than Egypt.It exports, in abundance, cottons andsilks, rice, sugar and butter. It producesamply — for its own consumption —wheat, vegetables, grains, fowls, ducksand geese. It has immense herds of pigsand flocks of sheep and goats. Fish ofevery kind it has in profusion. Fromrajmahal to the sea is an endlessnumber of canals, cut in bygone agesfrom the Ganges by immense labour fornavigation and irrigation.”

Ø Take note of the agricultural prosperity in our country in the seventeenth century. Contrast it

with agricultural stagnation around the time when the British left India, around 200 years later.

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continued to experience stagnation

and, not infrequently, unusual

deterioration. Agricultural pro-ductivity became low though, in

absolute terms, the sector experienced

some growth due to the expansion of

the aggregate area under cultivation.

This stagnation in the agricultural

sector was caused mainly because of

the various systems of land

settlement that were introduced by

the colonial government. Particularly,

under the zamindari system which

was implemented in the then BengalPresidency comprising parts ofIndia’s present-day eastern states,the profit accruing out of theagriculture sector went to thezamindars instead of the cultivators.However, a considerable number ofzamindars, and not just the colonialgovernment, did nothing to improvethe condition of agriculture. The main

interest of the zamindars was only tocollect rent regardless of theeconomic condition of the cultivators;this caused immense misery andsocial tension among the latter. To avery great extent, the terms of therevenue settlement were alsoresponsible for the zamindars

adopting such an attitude; dates fordepositing specified sums of revenuewere f ixed, fai l ing which thezamindars were to lose their rights.Besides this, low levels of technology,lack of irrigation facilities andnegligible use of fertilisers, all addedup to aggravate the plight of thefarmers and contributed to thedismal level of agriculturalproductivity. There was, of course,some evidence of a relatively higheryield of cash crops in certainareas of the country due tocommercialisation of agriculture.

Work These Out

Ø Compare the map of British India with that of independent India and find

out the areas that became parts of Pakistan. Why were those parts so

important to India from the economic point of view? (Refer, to your

advantage, Dr Rajendra Prasad’s book, India Divided).

Ø What were the various forms of revenue settlement adopted by the British

in India? Where did they implement them and to what effect? How far do

you think those settlements have a bearing on the current agricultural

scenario in India? (In your attempt to find answers to these questions, you

may refer to Ramesh Chandra Dutt’s Economic History of India, which comes

in three volumes, and B.H. Baden-Powell’s The Land Systems of British

India, also in two volumes. For better comprehension of the subject, you

can also try and develop an illustrated agrarian map of British India either

by hand or with the help of your school computer. Remember, nothing

helps better than an illustrated map to understand the subject at hand).

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But this could hardly help farmers inimproving their economic conditionas, instead of producing food crops,now they were producing cash cropswhich were to be ultimately used byBritish industries back home. Despitesome progress made in irrigation,India’s agriculture was starved ofinvestment in terracing, flood-control,drainage and desalinisation of soil.While a small section of farmerschanged their cropping pattern fromfood crops to commercial crops, a largesection of tenants, small farmers andsharecroppers neither had resourcesand technology nor had incentive toinvest in agriculure.

1.4 INDUSTRIAL SECTOR

As in the case of agriculture, so alsoin manufacturing, India could notdevelop a sound industrial base underthe colonial rule. Even as the country’sworld famous handicraft industriesdeclined, no corresponding modernindustrial base was allowed to comeup to take pride of place so longenjoyed by the former. The primary

motive of the colonial governmentbehind this policy of systematically de-

industrialising India was two-fold. The

intention was, first, to reduce India tothe status of a mere exporter of

important raw materials for the

upcoming modern industries inBritain and, second, to turn India into

a sprawling market for the finished

products of those industries so thattheir continued expansion could be

ensured to the maximum advantage of

their home country — Britain. In the

unfolding economic scenario, the

decline of the indigenous handicraftindustries created not only massive

unemployment in India but also a new

demand in the Indian consumermarket, which was now deprived of the

supply of locally made goods. This

demand was profitably met by theincreasing imports of cheap

manufactured goods from Britain.

During the second half of thenineteenth century, modern industry

began to take root in India but its

progress remained very slow.Initially, this development was

confined to the setting up of cotton

and jute textile mills. The cottontextile mills, mainly dominated by

Indians, were located in the western

parts of the country, namely,Maharashtra and Gujarat, while

the jute mills dominated by the

foreigners were mainly concentratedin Bengal. Subsequently, the iron

and steel industries began coming up

in the beginning of the twentiethcentury. The Tata Iron and Steel

Company (TISCO) was incorporated

in 1907. A few other industries in thefields of sugar, cement, paper etc.

came up after the Second World War.However, there was hardly any

capital goods industry to helppromote further industrialisation inIndia. Capital goods industry meansindustries which can produce machinetools which are, in turn, used forproducing articles for currentconsumption. The establishment of afew manufacturing units here and

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there was no substitute to the nearwholesale displacement of thecountry’s traditional handicraftindustries. Furthermore, the growthrate of the new industrial sector andits contribution to the Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) remained very small.Another significant drawback of thenew industrial sector was the verylimited area of operation of the publicsector. This sector remained confinedonly to the railways, power generation,communications, ports and someother departmental undertakings.

1.5 FOREIGN TRADE

India has been an important tradingnation since ancient times. But therestrictive policies of commodityproduction, trade and tariff pursuedby the colonial government adverselyaffected the structure, composition andvolume of India’s foreign trade.

Consequently, India became an

exporter of primary products such asraw silk, cotton, wool, sugar, indigo,

jute etc. and an importer of finished

consumer goods like cotton, silk andwoollen clothes and capital goods like

light machinery produced in the

factories of Britain. For all practicalpurposes, Britain maintained a

monopoly control over India’s exports

and imports. As a result, more thanhalf of India’s foreign trade was

restricted to Britain while the rest was

allowed with a few other countries likeChina, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Persia

(Iran). The opening of the Suez Canal

further intensified British control overIndia’s foreign trade (see Box 1.3).

The most important characteristic

of India’s foreign trade throughout thecolonial period was the generation of

a large export surplus. But this

surplus came at a huge cost to thecountry’s economy. Several essentialcommodities—food grains, clothes,

Work These Out

ØPrepare a list showing where and when other modern industries of India

were first set up. Can you also find out what the basic requirements are forsetting up any modern industry? What, for example, might have been thereasons for the setting up of the Tata Iron and Steel Company at Jamshedpur,which is now in the state of Jharkhand?

ØHow many iron and steel factories are there in India at present? Are these

iron and steel factories among the best in the world or do you think thatthese factories need restructuring and upgradation? If yes, how can this bedone? There is an argument that industries which are not strategic in natureshould not continue to be in the public sector. What is your view?

ØOn a map of India, mark the cotton textiles, jute mills and textile mills that

existed at the time of independence.

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kerosene etc. — were scarcely availablein the domestic market. Furthermore,this export surplus did not result inany flow of gold or silver into India.Rather, this was used to makepayments for the expenses incurred byan office set up by the colonialgovernment in Britain, expenses on war,again fought by the British

government, and the import of invisible

items, all of which led to the drain ofIndian wealth.

1.6 DEMOGRAPHIC CONDITION

Various details about the populationof British India were first collectedthrough a census in 1881. Thoughsuffering from certain limitations, itrevealed the unevenness in India’spopulation growth. Subsequently,

Fig.1.2 Suez Canal: Used as highway

between India and Britain

Box 1.3: Trade Through the SuezCanal

Suez Canal is an artificial waterwayrunning from north to south across theIsthmus of Suez in north-easternEgypt. It connects Port Said on theMediterranean Sea with the Gulf ofSuez, an arm of the Red Sea. The canalprovides a direct trade route for shipsoperating between European orAmerican ports and ports located inSouth Asia, East Africa and Oceania bydoing away with the need to sail aroundAfrica. Strategically and economically,it is one of the most importantwaterways in the world. Its opening in1869 reduced the cost of transportationand made access to the Indian marketeasier.

Not to scale

Work These Out

Ø Prepare a list of items that were exported from and imported into India during

the British rule.

Ø Collect information from the Economic Survey for various years published

by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, on various items of exportfrom India and its imports. Compare these with imports and exports fromthe pre-independence era. Also find out the names of prominent ports whichnow handle the bulk of India’s foreign trade.

Not to scale

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every ten years such census operations

were carried out. Before 1921, India

was in the first stage of demographictransition. The second stage of

transition began after 1921. However,

neither the total population of India nor

the rate of population growth at this

stage was very high.

The various social development

indicators were also not quite

encouraging. The overall literacy level

was less than 16 per cent. Out of this,

the female literacy level was at a

negligible low of about seven per

cent. Public health facilities were

either unavailable to large chunks of

population or, when available, were

highly inadequate. Consequently,

water and air-borne diseases were

rampant and took a huge toll on

life. No wonder, the overall mortalityrate was very high and in that,

particularly, the infant mortalityrate was quite alarming—about 218per thousand in contrast to thepresent infant mortality rate of 40 perthousand. Life expectancy was alsovery low—44 years in contrast to thepresent 68 years. In the absence ofreliable data, it is difficult to specify theextent of poverty at that time but thereis no doubt that extensive povertyprevailed in India during the colonialperiod which contributed to theworsening profile of India’s populationof the time.

1.7 OCCUPATIONAL STRUCTURE

During the colonial period, theoccupational structure of India, i.e.,distribution of working personsacross different industries andsectors, showed little sign of change.The agricultural sector accounted for

Fig. 1.3 A large section of India’s population did not have basic needs such as housing

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the largest share of workforce, whichusually remained at a high of 70-75per cent while the manufacturing andthe services sectors accounted for only10 and 15-20 per cent respectively.Another striking aspect was thegrowing regional variation. Partsof the then Madras Presidency(comprising areas of the present-daystates of Tamil Nadu, AndhraPradesh, Kerala and Karnataka),Bombay and Bengal witnessed adecline in the dependence of theworkforce on the agricultural sectorwith a commensurate increase in themanufacturing and the servicessectors. However, there had been anincrease in the share of workforce inagriculture during the same time instates such as Orissa, Rajasthan andPunjab.

1.8 INFRASTRUCTURE

Under the colonial regime, basicinfrastructure such as railways,ports, water transport, posts and

telegraphs did develop. However, the

real motive behind this development

was not to provide basic amenities tothe people but to subserve various

colonial interests. Roads constructed

in India prior to the advent of theBritish rule were not fit for modern

transport. The roads that were built

primarily served the purposes ofmobilising the army within India and

drawing out raw materials from the

countryside to the nearest railwaystation or the port to send these to

far away England or other lucrative

foreign destinations. There alwaysremained an acute shortage of all-

weather roads to reach out to the

rural areas during the rainy season.Naturally, therefore, people mostly

living in these areas suffered

grievously during natural calamitiesand famines.

The British introduced the

railways in India in 1850 and it isconsidered as one of their most

important contributions. The

railways affected the structure of theIndian economy in two important

ways. On the one hand it enabled

people to undertake long distancetravel and thereby break

geographical and cultural barriers

while, on the other hand, it fosteredcommercialisation of Indian

agriculture which adversely affected

the self-sufficiency of the villageeconomies in India. The volume of

India’s exports undoubtedly

expanded but its benefits rarelyaccrued to the Indian people.The social benefits, which the

Work These Out

Ø Can you find out the

reasons behind frequentoccurrence of famines inIndia before independence?You may read from NobelLaureate Amartya Sen’sbook, Poverty and Famines.

ØPrepare a pie chart for

the occupational structurein India at the time ofindependence.

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Indian people gained owing to theintroduction of the railways, werethus outweighed by the country’shuge economic loss.

Along with the development ofroads and railways, the colonialdispensation also took measures fordeveloping the inland trade and sealanes. However, these measures werefar from satisfactory. The inlandwaterways, at times, also proveduneconomical as in the case of theCoast Canal on the Orissa coast.Though the canal was built at a huge

cost to the government exchequer, yet,it failed to compete with the railways,which soon traversed the regionrunning parallel to the canal, and hadto be ultimately abandoned. Theintroduction of the expensive systemof electric telegraph in India, similarly,served the purpose of maintaining lawand order. The postal services, on theother hand, despite serving a useful

public purpose, remained all through

Fig.1.5 Tata Airlines, a division of Tata and

Sons, was established in 1932

inaugurating the aviation sector in India

Fig. 1.4 First Railway Bridge linking Bombay with Thane, 1854

Work This Out

Ø There is a perception still

going around that inmany ways the Britishadministration in Indiawas quite beneficial. Thisperception needs aninformed debate. Howwould you look at thisperception? Argue thisout in your class — ‘Wasthe British Raj good forIndia’?

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inadequate. You will learn more aboutthe present status of variousinfrastructure in Chapter 8.

1.9 CONCLUSION

By the time India won its independence,the impact of the two-century longBritish colonial rule was alreadyshowing on all aspects of the Indianeconomy. The agricultural sector wasalready saddled with surplus labourand extremely low productivity. Theindustrial sector was crying for

modernisation, diversification, capacity

building and increased public

investment. Foreign trade was oriented

to feed the Industrial Revolution in

Britain. Infrastructure facilities,

including the famed railway network,

needed upgradation, expansion and

public orientation. Prevalence of

rampant poverty and unemployment

required welfare orientation of public

economic policy. In a nutshell, the

social and economic challenges before

the country were enormous.

Recap

Ø An understanding of the economy before independence is necessary to

know and appreciate the level of development achieved during the post-independence period.

Ø Under the colonial dispensation, the economic policies of the government

were concerned more with the protection and promotion of Britisheconomic interests than with the need to develop the economic conditionof the colonised country and its people.

Ø The agricultural sector continued to experience stagnation and

deterioration despite the fact that the largest section of Indian populationdepended on it for sustenance.

Ø The rule of the British-India government led to the collapse of India’s

world famous handicraft industries without contributing, in anysignificant manner, to its replacement by a modern industrial base.

Ø Lack of adequate public health facilities, occurrence of frequent natural

calamities and famines pauperised the hapless Indian people andresulted in engendering high mortality rates.

Ø Some efforts were made by the colonial regime to improve infrastructure

facilities but these efforts were spiced with selfish motives. However, theindependent Indian government had to built on this base throughplanning.

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1. What was the focus of the economic policies pursued by the colonialgovernment in India? What were the impacts of these policies?

2. Name some notable economists who estimated India’s per capitaincome during the colonial period.

3. What were the main causes of India’s agricultural stagnation duringthe colonial period?

4. Name some modern industries which were in operation in our countryat the time of independence.

5. What was the two-fold motive behind the systematic de-industrialisation effected by the British in pre-independent India?

6. The traditional handicrafts industries were ruined under the Britishrule. Do you agree with this view? Give reasons in support of youranswer.

7. What objectives did the British intend to achieve through theirpolicies of infrastructure development in India?

8. Critically appraise some of the shortfalls of the industrial policypursued by the British colonial administration.

9. What do you understand by the drain of Indian wealth during thecolonial period?

10. Which is regarded as the defining year to mark the demographictransition from its first to the second decisive stage?

11. Give a quantitative appraisal of India’s demographic profile duringthe colonial period.

12. Highlight the salient features of India’s pre-independence occupationalstructure.

13. Underscore some of India’s most crucial economic challenges at thetime of independence.

14. When was India’s first official census operation undertaken?

15. Indicate the volume and direction of trade at the time ofindependence.

16. Were there any positive contributions made by the British in India?Discuss.

EXERCISES

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SUGGESTED ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES

1. Prepare a list of goods and services that were available to people inpre-independence India in rural and urban areas. Compare it withthe consumption pattern of such goods and services by the peopletoday. Highlight the perceptible difference in the people’s standardof living.

2. Find pictures of towns/villages, in your vicinity, of the pre-independence period and compare these with their present scenario.What changes can you mark? Are such changes for better or forworse? Discuss.

3. Rally around your teacher and organise a group discussion on ‘Hasthe zamindari system really been abolished in India’? If theconsensus is negative, then what measures would you think shouldbe taken to banish it and why?

4. Identify the major occupations followed by the people of our countryat the time of independence. What major occupations do the peoplefollow today? In the light of reform policies, how would you visualisethe occupational scenario in India 15 years from now—say, 2020?

BADEN-POWELL, B.H. 1892. The Land Systems of British India, Vols I, II and III.Oxford Clarendon Press, Oxford.

BUCHANAN, D.H. 1966. Development of Capitalist Enterprise in India. FrankCass and Co, London.

CHANDRA, BIPAN. 1993. ‘The Colonial Legacy’ in Bimal Jalan (Ed.), The IndianEconomy: Problems and Prospects. Penguin Books, New Delhi.

DUTT, R.C. 1963. Economic History of India, Vols I and II. Ministry ofInformation and Broadcasting, Government of India, New Delhi.

KUMAR, D. AND MEGHNAD DESAI (Eds.). 1983. Cambridge Economic History ofIndia. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

MILL, JAMES.1972. History of British India. Associated Publishing House,New Delhi.

PRASAD, RAJENDRA. 1946. India Divided. Hind Kitabs, Bombay.

SEN, AMARTYA. 1999. Poverty and Famines. Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

Government Reports

Economic Survey (for various years). Ministry of Finance, Government of India.

REFERENCES

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• come to know the goals of India’s five year plans

• know about the development policies in different sectors such asagriculture and industry from 1950-1990

• learn to think about the merits and limitations of a regulated economy.

Indian Economy

1950-1990

2

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17INDIAN ECONOMY 1950-1990

2.1 INTRODUCTION

On 15 August 1947, India woke to anew dawn of freedom. Finally we weremasters of our own destiny aftersome two hundred years of Britishrule; the job of nation building wasnow in our own hands. The leadersof independent India had to decide,among other things, the type ofeconomic system most suitable forour nation, a system which wouldpromote the welfare of all rather thana few. There are different types ofeconomic systems (see Box 2.1) andamong them, socialism appealed toJawaharlal Nehru the most. However,he was not in favour of the kind ofsocialism established in the formerSoviet Union where all the means ofproduction, i.e. all the factories andfarms in the country, were owned bythe government. There was no privateproperty. It is not possible in ademocracy l ike India for thegovernment to change the ownershippattern of land and other propertiesof its citizens in the way that it wasdone in the former Soviet Union.

Nehru, and many other leaders andthinkers of the newly independentIndia, sought an alternative to theextreme versions of capitalism andsocialism. Basically sympathising withthe socialist outlook, they found the

answer in an economic system which,in their view, combined the bestfeatures of socialism without itsdrawbacks. In this view, India wouldbe a socialist society with a strongpublic sector but also with privateproperty and democracy; the governmentwould plan (see Box 2.2) for the

The central objective of Planning in India... is to initiate a process ofdevelopment which will raise the living standards and open out to the peoplenew opportunities for a richer and more varied life.

First Five Year Plan

Work These Out

Ø Prepare a chart on the

different types of economicsystems prevalent in theworld. List out the countriesas capitalist, socialist andmixed economy.

Ø Plan a class trip to an

agriculture farm. Divide theclass into seven groups witheach group to plan a specificgoal, for example, thepurpose of the visit, moneyexpenditure involved, timetaken, resources, peopleaccompanying the groupand who need to becontacted, possible placesof visit, possible questionsto be asked etc. Now, withthe help of your teacher,compile these specific goalsand compare with long-termgoals of successful visit toan agricultural farm.

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Box 2.1: Types of Economic Systems

Every society has to answer three questions

ØWhat goods and services should be produced in the country?

ØHow should the goods and services be produced? Should producers use

more human labour or more capital (machines) for producing things?

ØHow should the goods and services be distributed among people?

One answer to these questions is to depend on the market forces of

supply and demand. In a market economy, also called capitalism, only thoseconsumer goods will be produced that are in demand, i.e., goods that canbe sold profitably either in the domestic or in the foreign markets. If carsare in demand, cars will be produced and if bicycles are in demand, bicycleswill be produced. If labour is cheaper than capital, more labour-intensivemethods of production will be used and vice-versa. In a capitalist societythe goods produced are distributed among people not on the basis of whatpeople need but on the basis of Purchasing Power—the ability to buy goodsand services. That is, one has to have the money in the pocket to buy it. Lowcost housing for the poor is much needed but will not count as demand inthe market sense because the poor do not have the purchasing power toback the demand. As a result this commodity will not be produced andsupplied as per market forces. Such a society did not appeal to JawaharlalNehru, our first prime minister, for it meant that the great majority of peopleof the country would be left behind without the chance to improve theirquality of life.

A socialist society answers the three questions in a totally different

manner. In a socialist society the government decides what goods are to beproduced in accordance with the needs of society. It is assumed that thegovernment knows what is good for the people of the country and so thedesires of individual consumers are not given much importance. Thegovernment decides how goods are to be produced and how they should bedistributed. In principle, distribution under socialism is supposed to be basedon what people need and not on what they can afford to purchase. Unlikeunder capitalism, for example, a socialist nation provides free health careto all its citizens. Strictly, a socialist society has no private property sinceeverything is owned by the state. In Cuba and China, for example, most ofthe economic activities are governed by the socialistic principles.

Most economies are mixed economies, i.e. the government and the

market together answer the three questions of what to produce, how toproduce and how to distribute what is produced. In a mixed economy, themarket will provide whatever goods and services it can produce well, andthe government will provide essential goods and services which the marketfails to do.

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economy with the private sector beingencouraged to be part of the plan effort.The ‘Industrial Policy Resolution’ of1948 and the Directive Principles ofthe Indian Constitution reflectedthis outlook. In 1950, the PlanningCommission was set up with thePrime Minister as its Chairperson. Theera of five year plans had begun.

2.2 THE GOALS OF FIVE YEAR PLANS

A plan should have some clearlyspecified goals. The goals of the fiveyear plans are: growth, modernisation,self-reliance and equity. This does notmean that all the plans have givenequal importance to all these goals.Due to limited resources, a choice hasto be made in each plan about which

of the goals is to be given primaryimportance. Nevertheless, the plannershave to ensure that, as far as possible,the policies of the plans do notcontradict these four goals. Let us nowlearn about the goals of planning insome detail.

Growth: It refers to increase in thecountry’s capacity to produce theoutput of goods and services withinthe country. It implies either alarger stock of productive capital,or a larger s ize of support ingserv i ces l ike t ranspor t andbanking, or an increase in theefficiency of productive capital andservices. A good indicator ofeconomic growth, in the language of

Box 2.2: What is a Plan?

A plan spells out how the resources of a nation should be put to use. It

should have some general goals as well as specific objectives which are tobe achieved within a specified period of time; in India plans are of five yearsduration and are called five year plans (we borrowed this from the formerSoviet Union, the pioneer in national planning). Our plan documents notonly specify the objectives to be attained in the five years of a plan but alsowhat is to be achieved over a period of twenty years. This long-term plan iscalled ‘perspective plan’. The five year plans are supposed to provide thebasis for the perspective plan.

It will be unrealistic to expect all the goals of a plan to be given equal

importance in all the plans. In fact the goals may actually be in conflict. Forexample, the goal of introducing modern technology may be in conflict withthe goal of increasing employment if the technology reduces the need forlabour. The planners have to balance the goals, a very difficult job indeed.We find different goals being emphasised in different plans in India.

Our five year plans do not spell out how much of each and every good

and service is to be produced. This is neither possible nor necessary (theformer Soviet Union tried to do this and failed). It is enough if the plan isspecific about the sectors where it plays a commanding role, for instance,power generation and irrigation, while leaving the rest to the market.

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Box 2.3: Mahalanobis: the Architect of Indian Planning

Many distinguished thinkers contributed to the formulation of our five year

plans. Among them, the name of the statistician, Prasanta ChandraMahalanobis, stands out.

Planning, in the real sense of the term, began with the Second Five YearPlan. The Second Plan, a landmark contribution to development planningin general, laid down the basic ideas regardinggoals of Indian planning; this plan was basedon the ideas of Mahalanobis. In that sense, hecan be regarded as the architect of Indianplanning.

Mahalanobis was born in 1893 in Calcutta.He was educated at the Presidency College inCalcutta and at Cambridge University inEngland. His contributions to the subject ofstatistics brought him international fame. In1946 he was made a Fellow (member) ofBritain’s Royal Society, one of the mostprestigious organisations of scientists; only themost outstanding scientists are mademembers of this Society.

Mahalanobis established the IndianStatistical Institute (ISI) in Calcutta andstarted a journal, Sankhya, which still servesas a respected forum for statisticians todiscuss their ideas. Both, the ISI and Sankhya, are highly regarded bystatisticians and economists all over the world to this day.

During the second plan period, Mahalanobis invited manydistinguished economists from India and abroad to advise him on India’seconomic development. Some of these economists became Nobel Prize winnerslater, which shows that he could identify individuals with talent. Amongthe economists invited by Mahalanobis were those who were very critical ofthe socialist principles of the second plan. In other words, he was willing tolisten to what his critics had to say, the mark of a great scholar.

Many economists today reject the approach to planning formulated byMahalanobis but he will always be remembered for playing a vital role inputting India on the road to economic progress, and statisticians continueto profit from his contribution to statistical theory.

Source: Sukhamoy Chakravarty, ‘Mahalanobis, Prasanta Chandra’ in John

Eatwell et.al, (Eds.) The New Palgrave Dictionary: Economic

Development, W.W. Norton, New York and London.

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economics, is steady increase in theGross Domestic Product (GDP). TheGDP is the market value of all thegoods and services produced in thecountry during a year. You can thinkof the GDP as a cake and growth isincrease in the size of the cake. If thecake is larger, more people can enjoyit. It is necessary to produce moregoods and services if the people ofIndia are to enjoy (in the words of theFirst Five Year Plan) a more rich andvaried life.

The GDP of a country is derivedfrom the different sectors of theeconomy, namely the agriculturalsector, the industrial sector and theservice sector. The contributionmade by each of these sectors makesup the structural composition ofthe economy. In some countries,growth in agriculture contributesmore to the GDP growth, while insome countries the growth in theservice sector contributes more toGDP growth (see Box 2.4).

Modernisation: To increase theproduction of goods and services

the producers have to adopt newtechnology. For example, a farmer canincrease the output on the farm byusing new seed varieties instead ofusing the old ones. Similarly, a factorycan increase output by using a newtype of machine. Adoption of newtechnology is called modernisation.

However, modernisation does notrefer only to the use of new technologybut also to changes in social outlooksuch as the recognition that womenshould have the same rights as men.In a traditional society, women aresupposed to remain at home whilemen work. A modern society makesuse of the talents of women in thework place — in banks, factories,schools etc. — and such a society inmost occassions is also prosperous.

Self-reliance: A nation can promoteeconomic growth and modernisationby using its own resources or byusing resources imported from othernations. The first seven five year plansgave importance to self-reliancewhich means avoiding importsof those goods which could be

Box 2.4: The Service Sector

As a country develops, it undergoes ‘structural change’. In the case of India,the structural change is peculiar. Usually, with development, the share ofagriculture declines and the share of industry becomes dominant. At higherlevels of development, the service sector contributes more to the GDP than theother two sectors. In India, the share of agriculture in the GDP was more than50 per cent—as we would expect for a poor country. But by 1990 the share ofthe service sector was 40.59 per cent, more than that of agriculture or industry,like what we find in developed nations. This phenomenon of growing share ofthe service sector was accelerated in the post 1991 period (this marked theonset of globalisation in the country which will be discussed in a subsequentchapter).

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produced in India itself. This policywas considered a necessity in orderto reduce our dependence on foreigncountries, especially for food. It isunderstandable that people whowere recently freed from foreigndomination should give importanceto self-reliance. Further, it was fearedthat dependence on imported foodsupplies, foreign technology andforeign capital may make India’ssovereignty vulnerable to foreigninterference in our policies.

Equity: Now growth, modernisationand self-reliance, by themselves, maynot improve the kind of life whichpeople are living. A country can havehigh growth, the most moderntechnology developed in the countryitself, and also have most of its peopleliving in poverty. It is important toensure that the benefits of economicprosperity reach the poor sections aswell instead of being enjoyed only bythe rich. So, in addition to growth,modernisation and self-reliance,equity is also important. Every Indianshould be able to meet his or her basic

needs such as food, a decent house,education and health care andinequality in the distribution of wealthshould be reduced.

Let us now see how the first sevenfive year plans, covering the period1950-1990, attempted to attain thesefour goals and the extent to whichthey succeeded in doing so, withreference to agriculture, industryand trade. You will study the policiesand developmental issues taken upafter 1991 in Chapter 3.

2.3 AGRICULTURE

You have learnt in Chapter 1 thatduring the colonial rule there wasneither growth nor equity in theagricultural sector. The policy makersof independent India had to addressthese issues which they did throughland reforms and promoting the useof ‘High Yielding Variety’ (HYV) seedswhich ushered in a revolution inIndian agriculture.

Land Reforms: At the time ofindependence, the land tenure systemwas characterised by intermediaries

Work These Out

Ø Discuss in your class the changes in technology used for

(a) Production of food grains(b) Packaging of products(c) Mass communication

Ø Find out and prepare a list of major items that India imported and exported

during 1990-91 and 2014-15.

(a) Observe the difference

(b) Do you see the impact of self-reliance? Discuss.

For getting these details you may refer to Economic Survey of the latest year.

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(variously called zamindars, jagirdars

etc.) who merely collected rent from theactual tillers of the soil withoutcontributing towards improvementson the farm. The low productivity ofthe agricultural sector forced India toimport food from the United States ofAmerica (U.S.A.). Equity in agriculturecalled for land reforms which primarilyrefer to change in the ownership of

landholdings. Just a year afterindependence, steps were taken toabolish intermediaries and to make thetillers the owners of land. The ideabehind this move was that ownershipof land would give incentives (see Box2.5) to the tillers to invest in makingimprovements provided sufficientcapital was made available to them.

Land ceiling was another policy topromote equity in the agriculturalsector. This means fixing the maximumsize of land which could be owned byan individual. The purpose of landceiling was to reduce the concentrationof land ownership in a few hands.

The abolition of intermediariesmeant that some 200 lakh tenantscame into direct contact with thegovernment — they were thusfreed from being exploited by thezamindars. The ownership conferredon tenants gave them the incentive toincrease output and this contributedto growth in agriculture. However, thegoal of equity was not fully servedby abolition of intermediaries. Insome areas the former zamindars

Box 2.5: Ownership and Incentives

The policy of ‘land to the tiller’ is based on the idea that the cultivators willtake more interest — they will have more incentive — in increasing output ifthey are the owners of the land. This is because ownership of land enables thetiller to make profit from the increased output. Tenants do not have the incentiveto make improvements on land since it is the landowner who would benefitmore from higher output. The importance of ownership in providing incentivesis well illustrated by the carelessness with which farmers in the former SovietUnion used to pack fruits for sale. It was not uncommon to see farmers packingrotten fruits along with fresh fruits in the same box. Now, every farmer knowsthat the rotten fruits will spoil the fresh fruits if they are packed together. Thiswill be a loss to the farmer since the fruits cannot be sold. So why did theSoviet farmers do something which would so obviously result in loss for them?The answer lies in the incentives facing the farmers. Since farmers in theformer Soviet Union did not own any land, they neither enjoyed the profits norsuffered the losses. In the absence of ownership, there was no incentive onthe part of farmers to be efficient, which also explains the poor performance ofthe agricultural sector in the Soviet Union despite availability of vast areas ofhighly fertile land.

Source: Thomas Sowell, Basic Economics: A Citizen’s Guide to the Economy,

New York: Basic Books, 2004, Second Edition.

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continued to own large areas of landby making use of some loopholes inthe legislation; there were cases wheretenants were evicted and thelandowners claimed to be self-cultivators (the actual tillers), claimingownership of the land; and even whenthe tillers got ownership of land, thepoorest of the agricultural labourers(such as sharecroppers and landlesslabourers) did not benefit from landreforms.

The land ceiling legislation alsofaced hurdles. The big landlordschallenged the legislation in thecourts, delaying its implementation.They used this delay to register theirlands in the name of close relatives,thereby escaping from thelegislation. The legislation also hada lot o f loopholes which wereexploited by the big landholders toretain their land. Land reforms weresuccessful in Kerala and WestBengal because these states hadgovernments committed to the policyof land to the tiller. Unfortunatelyother states did not have the samelevel o f commitment and vastinequality in landholding continuesto this day.

The Green Revolution: Atindependence, about 75 per cent ofthe country’s population wasdependent on agriculture.Productivity in the agricultural sectorwas very low because of the use of oldtechnology and the absence ofrequired infrastructure for the vastmajority of farmers. India’sagriculture vitally depends on the

monsoon and if the monsoon fell shortthe farmers were in trouble unlessthey had access to irrigation facilitieswhich very few had. The stagnation inagriculture during the colonial rulewas permanently broken by the greenrevolution. This refers to the largeincrease in production of food grainsresulting from the use of high yieldingvariety (HYV) seeds especially forwheat and rice. The use of these seedsrequired the use of fertiliser andpesticide in the correct quantities aswell as regular supply of water; theapplication of these inputs in correctproportions is vital. The farmers whocould benefit from HYV seeds requiredreliable irrigation facilities as well asthe financial resources to purchasefertiliser and pesticide. As a result, inthe first phase of the green revolution(approximately mid 1960s upto mid1970s), the use of HYV seeds wasrestricted to the more affluent statessuch as Punjab, Andhra Pradesh andTamil Nadu. Further, the use of HYVseeds primarily benefited the wheat-growing regions only. In the secondphase of the green revolution(mid-1970s to mid-1980s), the HYVtechnology spread to a larger numberof states and benefited more varietyof crops. The spread of greenrevolution technology enabled Indiato achieve self-sufficiency in foodgrains; we no longer had to be at themercy of America, or any other nation,for meeting our nation’s foodrequirements.

Growth in agricultural output isimportant but it is not enough. If alarge proportion of this increase is

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consumed by the farmers themselvesinstead of being sold in the market,the higher output will not make muchof a difference to the economy as awhole. If, on the other hand, asubstantial amount of agriculturalproduce is sold in the market by thefarmers, the higher output can makea difference to the economy. Theportion of agricultural produce whichis sold in the market by the farmersis called marketed surplus. A goodproportion of the rice and wheatproduced during the green revolutionperiod (available as marketedsurplus) was sold by the farmers inthe market. As a result, the price offood grains declined relative to otheritems of consumption. The low-income groups, who spend a large

percentage of their income on food,benefited from this decline in relativeprices. The green revolution enabledthe government to procure sufficientamount of food grains to build a stockwhich could be used in times of foodshortage.

While the nation had immenselybenefited from the green revolution, thetechnology involved was not free fromrisks. One such risk was the possibilitythat it would increase the disparitiesbetween small and big farmers—sinceonly the big farmers could afford therequired inputs, thereby reaping mostof the benefits of the green revolution.Moreover, the HYV crops were also moreprone to attack by pests and the smallfarmers who adopted this technologycould lose everything in a pest attack.

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Fortunately, these fears did notcome true because of the steps takenby the government. The governmentprovided loans at a low interest rateto small farmers and subsidisedfertilisers so that small farmers couldalso have access to the neededinputs. Since the small farmers couldobtain the required inputs, theoutput on small farms equalled theoutput on large farms in the courseof time. As a result, the greenrevolution benefited the small as wellas rich farmers. The risk of the smallfarmers being ruined when pestsattack their crops was considerablyreduced by the services rendered byresearch institutes established by thegovernment. You should note thatthe green revolution would havefavoured the rich farmers only if thestate did not play an extensive rolein ensuring that the small farmer alsogains from the new technology.

The Debate Over Subsidies: Theeconomic justification of subsidies inagriculture is, at present, a hotly

debated question. It is generallyagreed that it was necessary to usesubsidies to provide an incentive for

adoption of the new HYV technologyby farmers in general and smallfarmers in particular. Any new

technology will be looked upon asbeing risky by farmers. Subsidieswere, therefore, needed to encourage

farmers to test the new technology.Some economists believe that oncethe technology is found profitable

and is widely adopted, subsidies

should be phased out since theirpurpose has been served. Further,subsidies are meant to benefit the

farmers but a substantial amount offertiliser subsidy also benefits thefert i l iser industry; and among

farmers, the subsidy largely benefitsthe farmers in the more prosperousregions. Therefore, it is argued that

there is no case for continuing withfertiliser subsidies; it does not benefitthe target group and it is a huge

burden on the government’s finances(see also Box 2.6).

On the other hand, some believe

that the government should continuewith agricultural subsidies becausefarming in India continues to be a

risky business. Most farmers are verypoor and they will not be able toafford the required inputs without

subsidies. Eliminating subsidies willincrease the inequality between richand poor farmers and violate the goal

of equity. These experts argue that ifsubsidies are largely benefiting thefertiliser industry and big farmers,

the correct policy is not to abolish

subsidies but to take steps to ensurethat only the poor farmers enjoy the

benefits.

Thus, by the late 1960s, Indian

agricultural productivity had increasedsufficiently to enable the country to be

self-sufficient in food grains. This is an

achievement to be proud of. On the

negative side, some 65 per cent of thecountry’s population continued to be

employed in agriculture even as late as

1990. Economists have found that as

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a nation becomes more prosperous, the

proportion of GDP contributed by

agriculture as well as the proportion of

population working in the sectordeclines considerably. In India,

between 1950 and 1990, the

proportion of GDP contributed by

agriculture declined significantly butnot the population depending on it

(67.5 per cent in 1950 to 64.9 per cent

by 1990). Why was such a largeproportion of the population engagedin agriculture although agriculturaloutput could have grown with muchless people working in the sector? Theanswer is that the industrial sector andthe service sector did not absorb thepeople working in the agricultural

sector. Many economists call this animportant failure of our policiesfollowed during 1950-1990.

2.4 INDUSTRY AND TRADE

Economists have found that poornations can progress only if they havea good industrial sector. Industryprovides employment which is more

stable than the employment inagriculture; it promotes modernisation

and overall prosperity. It is for this

reason that the five year plans placea lot of emphasis on industrialdevelopment. You might havestudied in the previous chapter that,at the time of independence, thevariety of industries was very narrow

Box 2.6: Prices as Signals

You would have learnt in an earlier class about how prices of goods aredetermined in the market. It is important to understand that prices are signalsabout the availability of goods. If a good becomes scarce, its price will rise andthose who use this good will have the incentive to make efficient decisionsabout its use based on the price. If the price of water goes up because of lowersupply, people will have the incentive to use it with greater care; for example,they may stop watering the garden to conserve water. We complain wheneverthe price of petrol increases and blame it on the government. But the increasein petrol price reflects greater scarcity and the price rise is a signal that lesspetrol is available—this provides an incentive to use less petrol or look foralternate fuels.

Some economists point out that subsidies do not allow prices to indicatethe supply of a good. When electricity and water are provided at a subsidisedrate or free, they will be used wastefully without any concern for their scarcity.Farmers will cultivate water intensive crops if water is supplied free, althoughthe water resources in that region may be scarce and such crops will furtherdeplete the already scarce resources. If water is priced to reflect scarcity,farmers will cultivate crops suitable to the region. Fertiliser and pesticidesubsidies result in overuse of resources which can be harmful to theenvironment. Subsidies provide an incentive for wasteful use of resources.Think about subsidies in terms of incentives and ask yourself whether it iswise from the economic viewpoint to provide free electricity to farmers.

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— largely confined to cotton textilesand jute. There were two well-managed iron and steel firms — onein Jamshedpur and the other inKolkata — but, obviously, we neededto expand the industrial base with avariety of industries if the economywas to grow.

Public and Private Sectors in IndianIndustrial Development: The bigquestion facing the policy makers was— what should be the role of thegovernment and the private sector inindustrial development? At the time ofindependence, Indian industrialists didnot have the capital to undertake

Work These Out

Ø A group of students may visit an agricultural farm, prepare a case study on

the method of farming used, that is, types of seeds, fertilisers, machines,means of irrigation, cost involved, marketable surplus and income earned.It will be beneficial if the changes in cultivation methods could be collectedfrom an elderly member of the farming family

(a) Discuss the findings in your class.

(b) The different groups can then prepare a chart showing variations incost of production, productivity, use of seeds, fertilisers, means ofirrigation, time taken, marketable surplus and income of the family.

Ø Collect newspaper cuttings related to the World Bank, International

Monetary Fund, World Trade Organisation (and meets of G7, G8, G10countries). Discuss the views shared by the developed and developingcountries on farm subsidies.

Ø Prepare pie charts on the occupational structure of the Indian economy

available in the following table.

Sector 1950–51 1990–91 2015–16

Agriculture 72.1 66.8 47Industry 10.7 12.7 22Services 17.2 20.5 31

ØStudy the arguments for and against agricultural subsidies. What is your

view on this issue?

ØSome economists argue that farmers in other countries, particularly

developed countries, are provided with high amount of subsidies and areencouraged to export their produce to other countries. Do you think ourfarmers will be able to compete with farmers from developed countries?Discuss.

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investment in industrial venturesrequired for the development of oureconomy; nor was the market bigenough to encourage industrialists toundertake major projects even if theyhad the capital to do so. It is principallyfor these reasons that the state had toplay an extensive role in promoting theindustrial sector. In addition, thedecision to develop the Indian economyon socialist lines led to the policy of thestate controlling the commandingheights of the economy, as the SecondFive Year plan put it. This meant thatthe state would have complete controlof those industries that were vital forthe economy. The policies of the privatesector would have to be complimentaryto those of the public sector, with thepublic sector leading the way.

Industrial Policy Resolution 1956(IPR 1956): In accordance with thegoal of the state controlling thecommanding heights of the economy,the Industrial Policy Resolution of1956 was adopted. This resolutionformed the basis of the Second FiveYear Plan, the plan which tried tobuild the basis for a socialist patternof society. This resolution classifiedindustries into three categories. Thefirst category comprised industrieswhich would be exclusively owned bythe state; the second categoryconsisted of industries in which theprivate sector could supplement theefforts of the state sector, with thestate taking the sole responsibility forstarting new units; the third categoryconsisted of the remaining industrieswhich were to be in the private sector.

Although there was a category ofindustries left to the private sector,the sector was kept under statecontrol through a system of licenses.No new industry was allowed unlessa license was obtained from thegovernment. This policy was used forpromoting industry in backwardregions; it was easier to obtain alicense if the industrial unit wasestablished in an economicallybackward area. In addition, suchunits were given certain concessionssuch as tax benefits and electricityat a lower tariff. The purpose of thispolicy was to promote regionalequality.

Even an existing industry had toobtain a l icense for expandingoutput or for diversifying production(producing a new variety of goods).This was meant to ensure that thequantity of goods produced was notmore than what the economyrequired. L icense to expandproduction was given only if thegovernment was convinced that theeconomy required a larger quantityof goods.

Small-Scale Industry: In 1955, theVillage and Small-Scale IndustriesCommittee, also called the KarveCommittee, noted the possibility ofusing small-scale industries forpromoting rural development. A‘small-scale industry’ is defined withreference to the maximum invest-ment allowed on the assets of a unit.This limit has changed over a periodof time. In 1950 a small-scaleindustrial unit was one which invested

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a maximum of rupees five lakh; atpresent the maximum investmentallowed is rupees one crore.

It is believed that small-scaleindustries are more ‘labour intensive’i.e., they use more labour than thelarge-scale industries and, therefore,generate more employment. But theseindustries cannot compete with the bigindustrial firms; it is obvious thatdevelopment of small-scale industryrequires them to be shielded from thelarge firms. For this purpose, theproduction of a number of productswas reserved for the small-scaleindustry; the criterion of reservationbeing the ability of these units tomanufacture the goods. They were alsogiven concessions such as lower exciseduty and bank loans at lower interestrates.

2.5 TRADE POLICY: IMPORT SUBSTITUTION

The industrial policy that we adoptedwas closely related to the tradepolicy. In the first seven plans, tradewas characterised by what iscommonly called an inward lookingtrade strategy. Technically, thisstrategy is called import substi-tution. This policy aimed at replacingor substituting imports with domesticproduction. For example, instead ofimporting vehicles made in a foreigncountry, industries would beencouraged to produce them in Indiaitself. In this policy the governmentprotected the domestic industriesfrom foreign competition. Protectionfrom imports took two forms: tariffsand quotas. Tariffs are a tax on

imported goods; they make importedgoods more expensive and discouragetheir use. Quotas specify the quantityof goods which can be imported. Theeffect of tariffs and quotas is that theyrestrict imports and, therefore, protectthe domestic firms from foreigncompetition.

The policy of protection is basedon the notion that industries ofdeveloping countries are not in aposition to compete against thegoods produced by more developedeconomies. It is assumed that if thedomestic industries are protectedthey will learn to compete in thecourse of time. Our planners alsofeared the possibility of foreignexchange being spent on import ofluxury goods if no restrictions wereplaced on imports. Nor was anyserious thought given to promoteexports until the mid-1980s.

Effect of Policies on IndustrialDevelopment: The achievements ofIndia’s industrial sector during thefirst seven plans are impressiveindeed. The proport ion of GDPcontr ibuted by the industr ia lsector increased in the period from11.8 per cent in 1950-51 to 24.6 percent in 1990-91. The rise in theindustry ’s share of GDP is animportant indicator of development.The six per cent annual growth rateof the industrial sector during theperiod is commendable. No longerwas Indian industry restricted largelyto cotton textiles and jute; in fact, theindustrial sector became welldiversified by 1990, largely due to

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the public sector. The promotionof small-scale industries gaveopportunities to those people who didnot have the capital to start largefirms to get into business. Protectionfrom foreign competition enabled thedevelopment of indigenous industriesin the areas of electronics andautomobile sectors which otherwisecould not have developed.

In spite of the contribution madeby the public sector to the growth ofthe Indian economy, some economistsare critical of the performance ofmany public sector enterprises. Itwas proposed at the beginning of thischapter that initially public sector

was required in a big way. It is nowwidely held that state enterprisescontinued to produce certain goodsand services (often monopolisingthem) although this was no longerrequired. An example is the provisionof telecommunication service. Thisindustry continued to be reserved forthe Public Sector even after it wasrealised that private sector firms couldalso provide it. Due to the absence ofcompetition, even till the late 1990s,one had to wait for a long time toget a telephone connection.Another instance could be theestablishment of Modern Bread, abread-manufacturing firm, as if the

Work These Out

Ø Construct a pie chart for the following table on sectoral contribution to GDP

and discuss the difference in the contribution of the sectors in the light ofeffects of development during 1950-91.

Sector 1950-51 1990-91

Agriculture 59.0 34.9

Industry 13.0 24.6

Services 28.0 40.5

Ø Conduct a debate in your classroom on the usefulness of Public Sector

Undertakings (PSUs) by dividing the class into two groups. One group mayspeak in favour of PSUs and the other group against the motion (involve asmany students as possible and encourage them to give examples).

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private sector could not manufacturebread! In 2001 this firm was sold tothe private sector. The point is thatafter four decades of Planneddevelopment of Indian Economy nodistinction was made between (i)what the public sector alone can doand (ii) what the private sector canalso do. For example, even now onlythe public sector supplies nationaldefense. And even though the privatesector can manage hotels well, yet,the government also runs hotels. Thishas led some scholars to argue thatthe state should get out of areaswhich the private sector can manageand the government may concentrateits resources on important serviceswhich the private sector cannotprovide.

Many public sector firms incurredhuge losses but continued tofunction because it is difficult to closea government undertaking even if itis a drain on the nation’s limitedresources. This does not mean thatprivate firms are always profitable(indeed, quite a few of the publicsector firms were originally privatefirms which were on the verge ofclosure due to losses; they were thennationalised to protect the jobs of theworkers). However, a loss-makingprivate firm will not waste resourcesby being kept running despite thelosses.

The need to obtain a license to startan industry was misused byindustrial houses; a big industrialistwould get a license not for starting anew firm but to prevent competitorsfrom starting new firms. The excessive

regulation of what came to be calledthe permit license raj preventedcertain firms from becoming moreefficient. More time was spent byindustrialists in trying to obtain alicense or lobby with the concernedministries rather than on thinkingabout how to improve their products.

The protection from foreigncompetition is also being criticised onthe ground that it continued evenafter it proved to do more harm thangood. Due to restrictions on imports,the Indian consumers had topurchase whatever the Indianproducers produced. The producerswere aware that they had a captivemarket; so they had no incentive toimprove the quality of their goods.Why should they think of improvingquality when they could sell lowquality i tems at a high price?Competition from imports forces ourproducers to be more efficient.

A few economists also point outthat the public sector is not meantfor earning profits but to promote thewelfare of the nation. The publicsector firms, on this view, should beevaluated on the basis of the extentto which they contribute to the welfareof people and not on the profits theyearn. Regarding protection, someeconomists hold that we shouldprotect our producers from foreigncompetition as long as the richnations continue to do so. Owing toall these conflicts, economists calledfor a change in our policy. This,

alongwith other problems, led the

government to introduce a new

economic policy in 1991.

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2.6 CONCLUSION

The progress of the Indian economy

during the first seven plans was

impressive indeed. Our industries

became far more diversified compared

to the situation at independence.

India became self- sufficient in food

production thanks to the green

revolution. Land reforms resulted in

abolition of the hated zamindari

system. However, many economists

became dissatisfied with theperformance of many public sectorenterprises. Excessive governmentregulation prevented growth of

entrepreneurship. In the name of self-

reliance, our producers were

protected against foreign competition

and this did not give them the

incentive to improve the quality of

goods that they produced. Our

policies were ‘inward oriented’ and so

we failed to develop a strong export

sector. The need for reform of

economic policy was widely felt in the

context of changing global economic

scenario, and the new economic policy

was initiated in 1991 to make our

economy more efficient. This is the

subject of the next chapter.

Recap

Ø After independence, India envisaged an economic system which combines

the best features of socialism and capitalism—this culminated in the mixedeconomy model.

Ø All the economic planning has been formulated through five year plans.

Ø Common goals of five year plans are growth, modernisation, self-sufficiency

and equity.

Ø The major policy initiatives in agriculture sector were land reforms and

green revolution. These initiatives helped India to become self-sufficient infood grains production.

Ø The proportion of people depending on agriculture did not decline as expected.

Ø Policy initiatives in the industrial sector raised its contribution to GDP.

Ø One of the major drawbacks in the industrial sector was the inefficient

functioning of the public sector as it started incurring losses leading todrain on the nation’s limited resources.

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1. Define a plan.

2. Why did India opt for planning?

3. Why should plans have goals?

4. What are High Yielding Variety (HYV) seeds?

5. What is marketable surplus?

6. Explain the need and type of land reforms implemented in theagriculture sector.

7. What is Green Revolution? Why was it implemented and how didit benefit the farmers? Explain in brief.

8. Explain ‘growth with equity’ as a planning objective.

9. Does modernisation as a planning objective create contradictionin the light of employment generation? Explain.

10. Why was it necessary for a developing country like India to followself-reliance as a planning objective?

11. What is sectoral composition of an economy? Is it necessary thatthe service sector should contribute maximum to GDP of aneconomy? Comment.

12. Why was public sector given a leading role in industrialdevelopment during the planning period?

13. Explain the statement that green revolution enabled thegovernment to procure sufficient food grains to build its stocksthat could be used during times of shortage.

14. While subsidies encourage farmers to use new technology, they area huge burden on government finances. Discuss the usefulness ofsubsidies in the light of this fact.

15. Why, despite the implementation of green revolution, 65 per centof our population continued to be engaged in the agriculture sectortill 1990?

16. Though public sector is very essential for industries, many publicsector undertakings incur huge losses and are a drain on theeconomy’s resources. Discuss the usefulness of public sectorundertakings in the light of this fact.

EXERCISES

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17. Explain how import substitution can protect domestic industry.

18. Why and how was private sector regulated under the IPR 1956?

19. Match the following:

1. Prime Minister A. Seeds that give large proportion of output

2. Gross Domestic B. Quantity of goods that can be imported

Product

3. Quota C. Chairperson of the planning commission

4. Land Reforms D. The money value of all the final goodsand services produced within the economyin one year

5. HYV Seeds E. Improvements in the field of agricultureto increase its productivity

6. Subsidy F. The monetary assistance given bygovernment for productionact iv i t i es .

BHAGWATI, J. 1993. India in T ransition: Freeing the Economy. OxfordUniversity Press, Delhi.

DANDEKAR, V.M. 2004. Forty Years After Independence, in Bimal Jalan,(Ed.). The Indian Economy: Problems and Prospects. Penguin, Delhi.

JOSHI, VIJAY. and I.M.D. LITTLE. 1996. India’s Economic Reforms 1991-2001.

Oxford University Press, Delhi.

MOHAN, RAKESH. 2004. Industrial Policy and Controls, in Bimal Jalan(Ed.). The Indian Economy: Problems and Prospects. Penguin, Delhi.

RAO, C.H. HANUMANTHA. 2004. Agriculture: Policy and Performance, in BimalJalan, (Ed.). The Indian Economy: Problems and Prospects. Penguin,Delhi.

REFERENCES

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UNIT

II

ECONOMIC REFORMS

SINCE 1991

UNIT

IIIUNIT

II

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After forty years of planned development, India

has been able to achieve a strong industrial base

and became self-sufficient in the production of food

grains. Nevertheless, a major segment of the

population continues to depend on agriculture for

its livelihood. In 1991, a crisis in the balance of

payments led to the introduction of economic

reforms in the country. This unit is an appraisal of

the reform process and its implications for India.

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• understand the background of the reform policies introduced in Indiain 1991

• understand the mechanism through which reform policies wereintroduced

• comprehend the process of globalisation and its implications for India

• be aware of the impact of the reform process in various sectors.

LIBERALISATION, PRIVATISATION

AND

GLOBALISATION: AN APPRAISAL

3

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39LIBERALISATION, PRIVATISATION AND GLOBALISATION: AN APPRAISAL

3.1 INTRODUCTION

You have studied in the previouschapter that, since independence,India followed the mixed economyframework by combining theadvantages of the capitalist economicsystem with those of the socialisteconomic system. Some scholars arguethat, over the years, this policy resultedin the establishment of a variety ofrules and laws, which were aimed atcontrolling and regulating theeconomy, ended up instead inhampering the process of growth anddevelopment. Others state that India,which started its developmental pathfrom near stagnation, has since beenable to achieve growth in savings,developed a diversified industrialsector which produces a variety ofgoods and has experienced sustainedexpansion of agricultural outputwhich has ensured food security.

In 1991, India met with aneconomic crisis relating to its externaldebt — the government was notable to make repayments on itsborrowings from abroad; foreignexchange reserves , which wegenerally maintain to import petroland other important items, droppedto levels that were not sufficient foreven a fortnight. The crisis wasfurther compounded by rising pricesof essential goods. All these led thegovernment to introduce a new set of

policy measures which changed thedirection of our developmentalstrategies. In this chapter, we willlook at the background of the crisis,measures that the government hasadopted and their impact on varioussectors of the economy.

3.2 BACKGROUND

The origin of the financial crisis canbe traced from the ineff ic ientmanagement of the Indian economyin the 1980s. We know that forimplementing various policies andits general administration, thegovernment generates funds fromvarious sources such as taxation,running of public sector enterprisesetc. When expenditure is more thanincome, the government borrows tofinance the deficit from banks andalso from people within the countryand from international financialinstitutions. When we import goodslike petroleum, we pay in dollarswhich we earn from our exports.

Development policies required thateven though the revenues werevery low, the government hadto overshoot its revenue to meetchallenges l ike unemployment,poverty and population explosion. Thecontinued spending on developmentprogrammes of the government did notgenerate additional revenue. Moreover,the government was not able to

There is a consensus in the world today that economic development is not alland the GDP is not necessarily a measure of progress of a society.

K.R. Narayanan

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generate sufficiently from internalsources such as taxation. When thegovernment was spending a largeshare of its income on areas which donot provide immediate returns such asthe social sector and defence, there wasa need to utilise the rest of its revenuein a highly efficient manner. Theincome from public sectorundertakings was also not very high tomeet the growing expenditure. Attimes, our foreign exchange ,borrowed from other countries andinternational financial institutions,was spent on meeting consumptionneeds. Neither was an attempt made toreduce such profligate spending norsufficient attention was given to boostexports to pay for the growing imports.

In the late 1980s, governmentexpenditure began to exceed itsrevenue by such large margins thatmeeting the expenditure throughborrowings became unsustainable.Prices of many essential goods rosesharply. Imports grew at a very highrate without matching growth ofexports. As pointed out earlier, foreignexchange reserves declined to a levelthat was not adequate to financeimports for more than two weeks.There was also not sufficient foreignexchange to pay the interest that needsto be paid to international lenders.Also no country or international funderwas willing to lend to India.

India approached the InternationalBank for Reconstruction andDevelopment (IBRD), popularlyknown as World Bank and theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF),

and received $7 billion as loan tomanage the crisis. For availing theloan, these international agenciesexpected India to liberalise and openup the economy by removingrestrictions on the private sector,reduce the role of the government inmany areas and remove traderestrictions between India and othercountries.

India agreed to the conditionalitiesof World Bank and IMF andannounced the New Economic Policy(NEP). The NEP consisted of wideranging economic reforms. Thethrust of the policies was towardscreating a more competit iveenvironment in the economy andremoving the barriers to entry andgrowth of firms. This set of policiescan broadly be classified into twogroups: the stabilisation measuresand the structural reform measures.Stabilisation measures are short-term measures, intended to correctsome of the weaknesses that havedeveloped in the balance ofpayments and to bring inflationunder control. In simple words, thismeans that there was a need tomaintain sufficient foreign exchangereserves and keep the rising pricesunder control. On the other hand,structural reform policies are long-termmeasures, aimed at improving theefficiency of the economy and increasingits international competitiveness byremoving the rigidities in varioussegments of the Indian economy. Thegovernment initiated a variety ofpolicies which fall under three heads

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viz., liberalisation, privatisation andglobalisation.

3.3 LIBERALISATION

As pointed out in the beginning,rules and laws which were aimed atregulating the economic activitiesbecame major hindrances in growthand development. Liberalisation wasintroduced to put an end to theserestrictions and open various sectorsof the economy. Though a fewliberal isation measures wereintroduced in 1980s in areas ofindustrial licensing, export-import

policy, technology upgradation,fiscal policy and foreign investment,reform policies initiated in 1991 weremore comprehensive. Let us studysome important areas, such as theindustrial sector, financial sector, taxreforms, foreign exchange markets

and trade and investment sectorswhich received greater attention inand after 1991.

Deregulation of Industrial Sector: InIndia, regulatory mechanisms wereenforced in various ways (i) industriallicensing under which every entrepreneurhad to get permission from governmentofficials to start a firm, close a firmor decide the amount of goodsthat could be produced (ii) privatesector was not allowed in manyindustries (iii) some goods could beproduced only in small-scale industries,and (iv) controls on price fixation anddistribution of selected industrialproducts.

The reform policies introduced inand after 1991 removed many ofthese restrict ions. Industriallicensing was abolished for almost allbut product categories — alcohol,cigarettes, hazardous chemicals,industrial explosives, electronics,aerospace and drugs and pharma-ceuticals. The only industries whichare now reserved for the public sectorare a part of defence equipment,atomic energy generation and railwaytransport. Many goods produced bysmall-scale industries have now beendereserved. In many industries, themarket has been al lowed todetermine the prices.

Financial Sector Reforms:

Financial sector includes financialinstitutions, such as commercialbanks, investment banks, stock

exchange operations and foreignexchange market. The financialsector in India is regulated by theReserve Bank of India (RBI). You maybe aware that all banks and otherfinancial institutions in India areregulated through various norms andregulations of the RBI. The RBIdecides the amount of money thatthe banks can keep with themselves,fixes interest rates, nature of lendingto various sectors, etc. One of themajor aims of financial sector reformsis to reduce the role of RBI fromregulator to facilitator of financialsector. This means that the financialsector may be al lowed to takedecisions on many matters withoutconsulting the RBI.

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The reform policies led to theestablishment of private sector banks,Indian as well as foreign. Foreigninvestment limit in banks was raised toaround 50 per cent. Those banks whichfulfil certain conditions have been givenfreedom to set up new brancheswithout the approval of the RBI andrationalise their existing branchnetworks. Though banks have beengiven permission to generate resourcesfrom India and abroad, certainmanagerial aspects have been retainedwith the RBI to safeguard the interestsof the account-holders and the nation.Foreign Institutional Investors (FII),such as merchant bankers, mutualfunds and pension funds, are nowallowed to invest in Indian financialmarkets.

Tax Reforms: Tax reforms areconcerned with the reforms in thegovernment’s taxation and publicexpenditure policies, which arecollectively known as its fiscal policy.There are two types of taxes: direct andindirect. Direct taxes consist of taxeson incomes of individuals, as well as,profits of business enterprises. Since1991, there has been a continuousreduction in the taxes on individualincomes as it was felt that high rates ofincome tax were an important reasonfor tax evasion. It is now widelyaccepted that moderate rates of incometax encourage savings and voluntarydisclosure of income. The rate ofcorporation tax, which was very highearlier, has been gradually reduced.Efforts have also been made to reformthe indirect taxes, taxes levied oncommodities, in order to facilitate the

establishment of a common nationalmarket for goods and commodities.Another component of reforms in thisarea is simplification. In order toencourage better compliance on thepart of taxpayers many procedureshave been simplified and the rates alsosubstantially lowered. Recently, theParliament passed a law, Goods andServices Tax Act 2016, to simplify andintroduce a unified indirect tax systemin India. This law came into effect fromJuly 2017. This is expected to generateadditional revenue for the government,reduce tax evasion and create ‘onenation, one tax and one market’.

Foreign Exchange Reforms: The firstimportant reform in the external sectorwas made in the foreign exchangemarket. In 1991, as an immediatemeasure to resolve the balance ofpayments crisis, the rupee wasdevalued against foreign currencies.This led to an increase in the inflow offoreign exchange. It also set the tone tofree the determination of rupee valuein the foreign exchange market fromgovernment control. Now, more oftenthan not, markets determine exchangerates based on the demand and supplyof foreign exchange.

Trade and Investment PolicyReforms: Liberalisation of trade andinvestment regime was initiated toincrease international competitiveness ofindustrial production and also foreigninvestments and technology into theeconomy. The aim was also to promotethe efficiency of local industries andadoption of modern technologies.

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Work These Out

Ø Give an example each of nationalised bank, private bank, private foreign

bank, FII and a mutual fund.

Ø Visit a bank in your locality with your parents. Observe and find out thefunctions it performs. Discuss the same with your classmates and preparea chart on it.

Ø Classify the following as direct and indirect taxes: sales tax, custom duties,property tax, death duties, VAT, income tax.

Ø Find out from your parents if they pay taxes. If yes, why do they do so andhow?

Ø Do you know that for a very long time countries used to keep silver and goldas reserves to make payments abroad? Find out in what form do we keepour foreign exchange reserves and find out from newspapers, magazinesand the Economic Survey how much foreign exchange reserves we havetoday. Also find the foreign currency of the following countries and its rupeeexchange rate

Country Currency Value of 1(one) unit of foreign

currency in Indian rupee

U.S.A.U.K.JapanChinaKoreaSingaporeGermany

In order to protect domesticindustries, India was following a regimeof quantitative restrictions onimports. This was encouraged throughtight control over imports and bykeeping the tariffs very high. Thesepolicies reduced efficiency andcompetitiveness which led to slowgrowth of the manufacturing sector.The trade policy reforms aimed at (i)dismantling of quantitative restrictionson imports and exports (ii) reduction

of tariff rates and (iii) removal oflicensing procedures for imports.Import licensing was abolished exceptin case of hazardous andenvironmentally sensitive industries.Quantitative restrictions on imports ofmanufactured consumer goods andagricultural products were also fullyremoved from April 2001. Exportduties have been removed to increasethe competitive position of Indian goodsin the international markets.

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3.4 PRIVATISATION

It implies shedding of the ownershipor management of a governmentowned enterprise . Governmentcompanies are converted into privatecompanies in two ways ( i) bywithdrawal of the government fromownership and management ofpublic sector companies and or (ii) byoutright sale of public sectorcompanies.

Privatisation of the public sectorenterprises by selling off part of theequity of PSEs to the public is knownas disinvestment. The purpose of thesale, according to the government,was mainly to improve financialdiscipline and facilitate modernisation.It was also envisaged that privatecapital and managerial capabilitiescould be effectively utilised toimprove the performance of the PSUs.

Box 3.1: Navratnas and Public Enterprise Policies

You must have read in your childhood about the famous Navratnas or NineJewels in the Imperial Court of King Vikramaditya who were eminent personsof excellence in the fields of art, literature and knowledge. In order to improveefficiency, infuse professionalism and enable them to compete more effectivelyin the liberalised global environment, the government identifies PSEs anddeclare them as maharatnas, navratnas and miniratnas. They were given greatermanagerial and operational autonomy, in taking various decisions to run thecompany efficiently and thus increase their profits. Greater operational,financial and managerial autonomy has also been granted to profit-makingenterprises referred to as miniratnas.

The Central Public Sector Enterprises are designated with different status.A few examples of public enterprises with their status are as follows:(i) Maharatnas – (a) Indian Oil Corporation Limited, and (b) Steel Authority ofIndia Limited, (ii) Navratnas – (a) Hindustan Aeronautics Limited,(b) Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited; and (iii) Miniratnas – (a) BharatSanchar Nigam Limited; (b) Airport Authority of India and (c) Indian RailwayCatering and Tourism Corporation Limited.

Many of these profitable PSEs were originally formed during the 1950sand 1960s when self-reliance was an important element of public policy. Theywere set up with the intention of providing infrastructure and direct employmentto the public so that quality end-product reaches the masses at a nominalcost and the companies themselves were made accountable to all stakeholders.

The granting of status resulted in better performance of these companies.Scholars allege that instead of facilitating public enterprises in their expansionand enabling them to become global players, the government partly privatisedthem through disinvesment. Of late, the government has decided to retainthem in the public sector and enable them to expand themselves in the globalmarkets and raise resources by themselves from financial markets.

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The government envisaged thatprivatisation could provide strongimpetus to the inflow of FDI.

The government has also madeattempts to improve the efficiency ofPSUs by giving them autonomyin taking managerial decisions. Forinstance, some PSUs have beengranted special status as maharatnas,

navratnas and miniratnas (seeBox 3.1).

3.5 GLOBALISATION

Although globalisation is generallyunderstood to mean integration of theeconomy of the country with the worldeconomy, it is a complex phenomenon.It is an outcome of the set of variouspolicies that are aimed at transformingthe world towards greaterinterdependence and integration. Itinvolves creation of networks andactivities transcending economic, socialand geographical boundaries.Globalisation attempts to establish

links in such a way that the happeningsin India can be influenced by eventshappening miles away. It is turning theworld into one whole or creating aborderless world.

Outsourcing: This is one of theimportant outcomes of theglobalisation process. In outsourcing,a company hires regular service fromexternal sources, mostly from othercountries, which was previouslyprovided internally or from within thecountry (like legal advice, computerservice, advertisement, security —each provided by respectivedepartments of the company). As aform of economic activity, outsourcinghas intensified, in recent times,because of the growth of fast modesof communication, particularly thegrowth of Information Technology(IT). Many of the services such asvoice-based business processes(popularly known as BPO orcall centres), record keeping,

Work These Out

Ø Some scholars refer to disinvestment as the wave of privatisation spreading

all over the world to improve the performance of public sector enterpriseswhereas others call it as outright sale of public property to the vestedinterests. What do you think?

Ø Prepare a poster which contains 10-15 news clippings which you consideras important and relating to navaratnas from newspapers. Also collect thelogos and advertisements of these PSEs. Put these on the notice board anddiscuss them in the classroom.

Ø Do you think only loss making companies should be privatised? Why?

Ø Losses incurred by public sector enterprises are to be met out of the publicbudget. Do you agree with this statement? Discuss.

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accountancy, banking services, musicrecording, film editing, booktranscription, clinical advice or eventeaching are being outsourced bycompanies in developed countries toIndia. With the help of moderntelecommunication links including theInternet, the text, voice and visual datain respect of these services is digitisedand transmitted in real time overcontinents and national boundaries.Most multinational corporations, andeven small companies, are outsourcingtheir services to India where they can

be availed at a cheaper cost withreasonable degree of skill andaccuracy. The low wage rates andavailability of skilled manpower inIndia have made it a destination forglobal outsourcing in the post-reformperiod.

World Trade Organisation (WTO):The WTO was founded in 1995 asthe successor organisation to theGeneral Agreement on Trade andTariff (GATT). GATT was establishedin 1948 with 23 countries as the

Box 3.2: Global Footprint!

Owing to globalisation, you might find many Indian companies have expandedtheir wings to many other countries. For example, ONGC Videsh, a subsidiary ofthe Indian public sector enterprise, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation engaged inoil and gas exploration and production has projects in 16 countries. Tata Steel, aprivate company established in 1907, is one of the top ten global steel companiesin the world which have operations in 26 countries and sell its products in 50countries. It employs nearly 50,000 persons in other countries. HCL Technologies,one of the top five IT companies in India has offices in 31 countries and employsabout 15,000 persons abroad. Dr Reddy's Laboratories, initially was a smallcompany supplying pharmaceutical goods to big Indian companies, today hasmanufacturing plants and research centres across the world.

Source: www.rediff.com accessed on 14.10.2014.

global trade organisationto administer allmultilateral tradeagreements by providingequal opportunities toall countries in theinternational market fortrading purposes. WTO isexpected to establish arule-based trading regimein which nations cannotplace arbitrary restrictionson trade. In addition, itspurpose is also to enlargeFig. 3.1 Outsourcing: a new employment opportunity in big cities

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production and trade of services, toensure optimum utilisation of worldresources and to protect theenvironment. The WTO agreementscover trade in goods as well as servicesto facilitate international trade(bilateral and multilateral) throughremoval of tariff as well as non-tariffbarriers and providing greater marketaccess to all member countries.

As an important member of WTO,India has been in the forefront offraming fair global rules, regulationsand safeguards and advocating theinterests of the developing world.India has kept its commitmentstowards liberalisation of trade, madein the WTO, by removing quantitativerestrictions on imports and reducingtariff rates.

Work These Out

Ø Many scholars argue that globalisation is a threat as it reduces the role of

the state in many sectors. Some counter argue that it is an opportunity asit opens up markets to compete in and capture. Debate in the classroom.

Ø Prepare a chart consisting of a list of five companies that have BPO servicesin India, along with their turnover.

Ø Read this excerpt of a news item from a daily newspaper describingsomething that is now becoming increasingly common.

“On a morning, a few minutes before 7 A.M., Greeshma sat in front ofher computer with her headset on and said in accented English ‘Hello,Daniella’. Seconds later, she gets the reply, ‘Hello, Greeshma’. The two chattedexcitedly before Greeshma said that ‘we will work on pronouns today’.Nothing unusual about this chat except that Greeshma, 22, was in Kochiand her student Daniella, 13, was at her home in Malibu, California. Usinga simulated whiteboard on their computers, connected by the Internet, anda copy of Daniella’s textbook in front of Greeshma, she guides the teenagerthrough the intricacies of nouns, adjectives and verbs. Greeshma, who grewup speaking Malayalam, was teaching Daniella English grammar,comprehension and writing.”

ü How has this become possible? Why can’t Daniella get lessons in herown country? Why is she getting English lessons from India, whereEnglish is not the mother tongue?

ü India is benefiting from liberalisation and integration of world markets.Do you agree?

Ø Is employment in call centres sustainable? What kinds of skills should peopleworking in call centres acquire to get a regular income?

Ø If the multinational companies outsource many services to countries likeIndia because of cheap manpower, what will happen to people living in thecountries where the companies are located? Discuss.

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Some scholars question theusefulness of India being a member ofthe WTO as a major volume ofinternational trade occurs among thedeveloped nations. They also say thatwhile developed countries filecomplaints over agricultural subsidiesgiven in their countries, developingcountries feel cheated as they are forcedto open their markets for developedcountries but are not allowed access tothe markets of developed countries.What do you think?

performance of the Indian economyduring this period. In economics, thegrowth of an economy is measured bythe Gross Domestic Product. Look atTable 3.1. The post–1991 Indiawitnessed a rapid growth in GDP on acontinual basis for two decades. Thegrowth of GDP increased from 5.6 percent during 1980–91 to 8.2 per centduring 2007–12. During the reformperiod, the growth of agriculture hasdeclined. While the industrial sectorreported fluctuation, the growth of theservice sector has gone up. Thisindicates that this growth is mainlydriven by growth in the service sector.During 2012-15, there has been asetback in the growth rates of differentsectors witnessed post–1991. Whileagriculture recorded a high growth rateduring 2013–14, this sector witnessednegative growth in the subsequent year.While the service sector continued towitness a high level of growth — higherthan the overall GDP growth in 2014–15, this sector witnessed the highest-ever growth rate of 10.3 per cent. Theindustrial sector witnessed a steepdecline during 2012–13, it began toshow a continuous positive growth. The opening of the economy has ledto a rapid increase in foreign direct

Fig. 3.2 IT industry is seen as a major contributorto India’s exports

TABLE 3.1Growth of GDP and Major Sectors (in %)

Sector 1980-91 1992-2001 2002-07 2007-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15

Agriculture 3.6 3.3 2.3 3.2 1.5 4.2 – 0.2

Industry 7.1 6.5 9.4 7.4 3.6 5 5.9

Services 6.7 8.2 7.8 10 8.1 7.8 10.3

Total 5.6 6.4 7.8 8.2 5.6 6.6 7.2

Source: Economic Survey 2016 –17, Ministry of Finance, Government of India.

3.6 IN D I A N EC O N O M Y DU R I N G

REFORMS: AN ASSESSMENT

The reform process has completed one-and-a-half decades since itsintroduction. Let us now look at the

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investment and foreign exchangereserves. The foreign investment,which includes foreign directinvestment (FDI) and foreigninstitutional investment (FII), hasincreased from about US $100 millionin 1990-91 to US $ 73.5 billion in2014-15. There has been an increasein the foreign exchange reserves fromabout US $ 6 billion in 1990-91 toabout US $ 321 billion in 2014-15.India is one of the largest foreignexchange reserve holders in the world.

India is seen as a successful exporterof auto parts, engineering goods, ITsoftware and textiles in the reformperiod. Rising prices have also beenkept under control. On the other hand, the reformprocess has been widely criticisedfor not being able to address someof the basic problems facing oureconomy especially in areas ofemployment, agriculture, industry,infrastructure development and fiscalmanagement.

Work These Out

Ø In the previous chapter, you might have studied about subsidies in various

sectors, including agriculture. Some scholars argue that subsidy in agricultureshould be removed to make the sector internationally competitive. Do youagree? If so, how can it be done? Discuss in class.

Ø Read the following passage and discuss in class.

Groundnut is a major oilseed crop in Andhra Pradesh. Mahadeva, who

was a farmer in Anantpur district of Andhra Pradesh, used to spend Rs 1,500for growing groundnut on his plot of half an acre. The cost included expenditureon raw material (seeds, fertilisers, etc.), labour, bullock power and machineryused. On an average, Mahadeva used to get two quintals of groundnut, andeach quintal was sold for Rs 1,000. Mahadeva, thus, was spending Rs 1,500and getting an income of Rs 2,000. Anantpur district is a drought-prone area.As a result of economic reforms, the government did not undertake any majorirrigation project. Recently, groundnut crop in Anantpur is facing problemsdue to crop disease. Research and extension work has gone down due to lowergovernment expenditure. Mahadeva and his friends brought this matterrepeatedly to the notice of the government officials entrusted with thisresponsibility, but failed. Subsidy was reduced on material (seeds, fertilisers)which increased Mahadeva’s cost of cultivation. Moreover, the local marketswere flooded with cheap imported edible oils, which was a result of removal ofrestriction on imports. Mahadeva was not able to sell his groundnut in themarket as he was not getting the price to cover his cost.

What could be done to farmers like Mahadeva from incurring losses?Discuss in the class.

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Growth and Employment: Though theGDP growth rate has increased in thereform period, scholars point out that thereform-led growth has not generatedsufficient employment opportunities inthe country. You will study the linkbetween different aspects of employmentand growth in the next unit.

Reforms in Agriculture: Reforms havenot been able to benefit agriculture,where the growth rate has beendecelerating.

Public investment in agriculturesector especially in infrastructure,which includes irrigation, power, roads,market linkages and research andextension (which played a crucial rolein the Green Revolution), has fallen inthe reform period. Further, the removalof fertiliser subsidy has led to increasein the cost of production, which hasseverely affected the small and marginalfarmers. This sector has beenexperiencing a number of policychanges such as reduction in importduties on agricultural products,removal of minimum support price andlifting of quantitative restrictions onagricultural products; these haveadversely affected Indian farmers asthey now have to face increasedinternational competition.

Moreover, because of export-oriented policy strategies in agriculture,there has been a shift from productionfor the domestic market towardsproduction for the export marketfocusing on cash crops in lieu ofproduction of food grains. This putspressure on prices of food grains.

Reforms in Industry: Industrialgrowth has also recorded a slowdown.This is because of decreasing demandof industrial products due tovarious reasons such as cheaperimports, inadequate investment ininfrastructure etc. In a globalisedworld, developing countries arecompelled to open up their economiesto greater flow of goods and capitalfrom developed countries andrendering their industries vulnerableto imported goods. Cheaper importshave, thus, replaced the demandfor domestic goods. Domesticmanufacturers are facing competitionfrom imports. The infrastructurefacilities, including power supply, haveremained inadequate due to lack ofinvestment. Globalisation is, thus,often seen as creating conditions forthe free movement of goods andservices from foreign countries thatadversely affect the local industriesand employment opportunities indeveloping countries.

Moreover, a developing countrylike India still does not have the accessto developed countries’ marketsbecause of high non-tariff barriers. Forexample, although all quotarestrictions on exports of textiles andclothing have been removed in India,USA has not removed their quotarestriction on import of textiles fromIndia and China.

Disinvestment: Every year, thegovernment fixes a target fordisinvestment of PSEs. For instance,in 1991-92, it was targeted to mobiliseRs 2500 crore through disinvestment.

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The government was able to mobiliseRs 3,040 crore more than the target.In 2014–15, the target was aboutRs 56,000 crore, whereas, theachievement was about Rs 34,500crore. Critics point out that the assetsof PSEs have been undervalued andsold to the private sector. This meansthat there has been a substantial lossto the government. Moreover, theproceeds from disinvestment wereused to offset the shortage ofgovernment revenues rather thanusing it for the development of PSEsand building social infrastructure inthe country. Do you think selling a partof the properties of governmentcompanies is the best way to improvetheir efficiency?

Reforms and Fiscal Policies:Economic reforms have placed limits onthe growth of public expenditure,especially in social sectors. The taxreductions in the reform period, aimedat yielding larger revenue and curb tax

evasion, have not resulted in increasein tax revenue for the government. Also,the reform policies, involving tariffreduction, have curtailed the scope forraising revenue through custom duties.In order to attract foreign investment,tax incentives were provided to foreigninvestors which further reduced thescope for raising tax revenues. This hasa negative impact on developmentaland welfare expenditures.

3.7 CONCLUSION

The process of globalisation throughliberalisation and privatisation policieshas produced positive, as well as,negative results both for India andother countries. Some scholars arguethat globalisation should be seen asan opportunity in terms of greateraccess to global markets, hightechnology and increased possibility oflarge industries of developingcountries to become important playersin the international arena.

Box 3.3: Siricilla Tragedy!

Power sector reforms in many Indian states led to do away with the supply of

electricity at subsidised rates and steep rise in power tariff. This has affected

workers engaged in small industries. Powerloom textile industry in Andhra

Pradesh is an example. Since the wages of the powerloom workers are linked

to the production of cloth, power cut means cut in wages of weavers, who

were already suffering from hike in tariff. This led to a crisis in the livelihood

of the weavers and 50 powerloom workers committed suicide in a small town

called ‘Siricilla’ in Andhra Pradesh.

Ø Do you think the power tariff should not be raised?

Ø What would be your suggestions to revive small industries affected by

reforms?

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On the contrary, the critics arguethat globalisation is a strategy of thedeveloped countries to expand theirmarkets in other countries. Accordingto them, it has compromised thewelfare and identity of peoplebelonging to poor countries. It hasfurther been pointed out thatmarket-driven globalisation haswidened the economic disparitiesamong nations and people.

Viewed from the Indian context,some studies have stated that thecrisis that erupted in the early 1990swas basically an outcome of thedeep-rooted inequalities in Indiansociety and the economic reform

policies initiated as a response to thecrisis by the government, withexternally advised policy package,further aggravated the inequalities.Further, it has increased the incomeand quality of consumption of onlyhigh-income groups and the growthhas been concentrated only insome select areas in the servicessector such as telecommunication,information technology, finance,entertainment, travel and hospitalityservices, real estate and trade,rather than vital sectors such asagriculture and industry whichprovide livelihoods to millions ofpeople in the country.

Recap

Ø The economy was facing problems of declining foreign exchange, growingimports without matching rise in exports and high inflation. India changedits economic policies in 1991 due to a financial crisis and pressure frominternational organisations like the World Bank and IMF.

Ø In the domestic economy, major reforms were undertaken in the industrialand financial sectors. Major external sector reforms included foreignexchange deregulations and import liberalisation.

Ø With a view to improving the performance of the public sector, there was aconsensus on reducing its role and opening it up to the private sector. Thiswas done through disinvestment and liberalisation measures.

Ø Globalisation is the outcome of the policies of liberalisation and privatisation.It means an integration of the economy of the country with the worldeconomy.

Ø Outsourcing is an emerging business activity.

Ø The objective of the WTO is to establish a rule based trade regime to ensureoptimum utilisation of world resources.

Ø During the reforms, growth of agriculture and industry has gone down butthe service sector has registered growth.

Ø Reforms have not benefited the agriculture sector. There has also been adecline in public investment in this sector.

Ø Industrial sector growth has slowed down due to availability of cheaperimports and lower investment.

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1. Why were reforms introduced in India?

2. Why is it necessary to became a member of WTO?

3. Why did RBI have to change its role from controller to facilitator offinancial sector in India?

4. How is RBI controlling the commercial banks?

5. What do you understand by devaluation of rupee?

6. Distinguish between the following

(i) Strategic and Minority sale(ii) Bilateral and Multi-lateral trade(iii) Tariff and Non-tariff barriers.

7. Why are tariffs imposed?

8. What is the meaning of quantitative restrictions?

9. Those public sector undertakings which are making profitsshould be privatised. Do you agree with this view? Why?

10. Do you think outsourcing is good for India? Why are developedcountries opposing it?

11. India has certain advantages which makes it a favourite outsourcingdestination. What are these advantages?

12. Do you think the navaratna policy of the government helps inimproving the performance of public sector undertakings in India?How?

13. What are the major factors responsible for the high growth of theservice sector?

14. Agriculture sector appears to be adversely affected by the reformprocess. Why?

15. Why has the industrial sector performed poorly in the reformperiod?

16. Discuss economic reforms in India in the light of social justiceand welfare.

EXERCISES

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1. The table given below shows the GDP growth rate at 2004-05prices. You have studied about the techniques of presentationof data in your Statistics for Economics course. Draw a timeseries line graph based on the data given in the table and inter-pret the same.

Year GDP Growth Rate (%)

2004-05 7.1

2005-06 9.5

2006-07 9.6

2007-08 9.3

2008-09 6.7

2009-10 8.6

2010-11 8.9

2011-12 6.7

2012-13 5.1

2013-14 7.4

2. Observe around you — you will find State Electricity Boards(SEBs), BSES and many public and private organisations sup-plying electricity in a city and states. There are private buses onroads along side the goverment bus services and so on

(i) What do you think about this dual system of the co-existenceof public and private sectors?

(ii) What are the merits and demerits of such a dual system?Discuss.

3. With the help of your parents and grandparents prepare a list ofmultinational companies that existed in India at the time ofindependence. Now put a (ü) mark against those which are stillgrowing and a (×) against those which do not exist any more. Arethere any companies whose names have changed? Find out thenew names, the country of origin, nature of product, logo andprepare a chart for your class.


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4. Give appropriate examples for the following

Nature of Product Name of a Foreign Company

Biscuits

Shoes

Computers

Cars

TV and Refrigerators

Stationery

Now find out if these companies which are mentioned above existedin India before 1991 or came after the New Economic Policy. For this,take the help of your teacher, parents, grandparents and shopkeepers.

5. Collect a few relevant newspaper cuttings on meetings organisedby WTO. Discuss the issues debated in these meetings and findout how the organisation facilitates world trade.

6. Was it necessary for India to introduce economic reforms at thebehest of World Bank and International Monetary Fund? Was thereno alternative for the government to solve the balance of pay-ments crisis? Discuss in the classroom.

Books

ACHARYA, S. 2003. India’s Economy: Some Issues and Answers. AcademicFoundation, New Delhi.

ALTERNATIVE SURVEY GROUP. 2005. Alternative Economic Survey, India 2004–05,

Disequalising Growth. Daanish Books, Delhi.

AHLUWALIA, I.J. and I.M.D. LITTLE. 1998. India’s Economic Reforms and

Development. Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

BARDHAN, PRANAB. 1998. The Political Economy of Development in India.

Oxford University Press, Delhi.

BHADURI, AMIT and DEEPAK NAYYAR. 1996. The Intelligent Person’s Guide to

Liberalisation. Penguin, Delhi.

BHAGWATI, JAGDISH. 1992. India in Transition: Freeing the Economy. OxfordUniversity Press, Delhi.

REFERENCES

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BYRES, TERENCE J. 1997. The State, Development Planning and Liberalisation

in India. Oxford University Press, Delhi.

CHADHA, G.K. 1994. Policy Perspectives in Indian Economic Development.

Har-Anand, Delhi.

CHELLIAH, RAJA J. 1996. Towards Sustainable Growth: Essays in Fiscal and

Financial Sector Reforms in India. Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

DEBROY, B. and RAHUL MUKHERJI (Eds.). 2004. The Political Economy of

Reforms. Bookwell Publication, New Delhi.

DREZE, JEAN and AMARTYA SEN. 1996. India: Economic Development and

Social Opportunity. Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

DUTT, RUDDAR AND K.P.M. SUNDARAM. 2005. Indian Economy. S. Chand andCompany, New Delhi.

GUHA, ASHOK (Ed.) 1990. Economic Liberalisation, Industrial Structure and

Growth in India. Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

JALAN, BIMAL. 1993. India’s Economic Crisis: The Way Ahead. OxfordUniversity Press, New Delhi.

JALAN, BIMAL. 1996. India’s Economic Policy: Preparing for the Twenty

First Century. Viking, Delhi.

JOSHI, VIJAY and I.M.D. LITTLE. 1996. India’s Economic Reforms 1991-2001.

Oxford University Press, New Delhi,

KAPILA, Uma. 2005. Understanding the Problems of Indian Economy.

Academic Foundation, New Delhi.

MAHAJAN, V.S. 1994. Indian Economy Towards 2000 A.D. Deep & Deep,Delhi.

PAREKH, KIRIT and RADHAKRISHNA, 2002, India Development Report 2001-02.Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

RAO, C.H. HANUMANTHA. and HANS LINNEMANN. 1996. Economic Reforms and

Poverty Alleviation in India, Sage Publication, Delhi.

SACHS, JEFFREY D., ASHUTOSH VARSHNEY and NIRUPAM BAJPAI.1999. India in the

Era of Economic Reforms. Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

Government Reports

Economic Survey (for various years). Ministry of Finance, Government ofIndia. Published by Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

Tenth Five Year Plan 1997-2002. Vol. 1. Government of India, PlanningCommission, New Delhi.

(NITI Aayog) Appraisal Document of Twelfth Five Year Plan 2012-2017,Government of India.

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CURRENT CHALLENGES FACING THE

INDIAN ECONOMY

UNIT

IIIUNIT

III

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Some of the most challenging issues facing India

today are poverty, development of rural India and

building infrastructure. We are a billion-strong

country today and our human capital is the biggest

asset; it needs investment in health and education.

We also need to understand the concept of

employment and the need for creating more

employment in our country. We will also look at

the implications of development on our environment

and call for sustainable development. There is a

need to critically assess government initiatives in

tackling all these issues each of which has been

taken up separately in this unit.

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• understand the various attributes of poverty

• comprehend the diverse dimensions relating to the concept of poverty

• critically appreciate the way poverty is estimated

• appreciate and be able to assess existing poverty alleviation programmes.

POVERTY

4

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4.1 INTRODUCTION

In previous chapters, you havestudied the economic policies thatIndia has taken in the last sevendecades and the outcome of thesepolicies with relation to the variousdevelopmental indicators. Providingminimum basic needs to the peopleand reduction of poverty have beenthe major aims of independent India.The pattern of development that thesuccessive five year plans envisagedlaid emphasis on the upliftment of thepoorest of the poor (Antyodaya),integrating the poor into themainstream and achieving aminimum standard of living for all.

While addressing the ConstituentAssembly in 1947, Jawaharlal Nehruhad said, “This achievement(Independence) is but a step, anopening of opportunity, to the greattriumphs and achievements thatawait us… the ending of poverty andignorance and disease and inequalityof opportunity”.

However, we need to know wherewe stand today. Poverty is not only achallenge for India, as more than one-fifth of the world’s poor live in Indiaalone; but also for the world, whereabout 300 million people are not ableto meet their basic needs.

Poverty has many faces, whichhave been changing from place toplace and across time, and has been

described in many ways. Most often,poverty is a situation that peoplewant to escape. So, poverty is a callto action — for the poor and thewealthy alike — a call to change theworld so that many more may haveenough to eat, adequate shelter,access to education and health,protection from violence, and a voicein what happens in theircommunities.

To know what helps to reducepoverty, what works and what doesnot, what changes over time, povertyhas to be defined, measured andstudied — and even experienced. Aspoverty has many dimensions, it hasto be looked at through a variety ofindicators — levels of income andconsumption, social indicators, andindicators of vulnerability to risksand of socio-political access.

4.2 WHO ARE THE POOR?

You would have noticed that in alllocalities and neighbourhoods, bothin rural and urban areas, there aresome of us who are poor and somewho are rich. Read the story of Anuand Sudha. Their lives are examplesof the two extremes (see Box 4.1).There are also people who belong tothe many stages in between.

Push-cart vendors, street cobblers,women who string flowers, rag pickers,vendors and beggars are some examples

No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greaterNo society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greaterNo society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greaterNo society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greaterNo society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater

part of the members are poor and miserable.part of the members are poor and miserable.part of the members are poor and miserable.part of the members are poor and miserable.part of the members are poor and miserable.

Adam SmithAdam SmithAdam SmithAdam SmithAdam Smith

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61POVERTY

Box 4.1: Anu and Sudha

Anu and Sudha were both born on the same day. Anu’s mother and fatherwere construction labourers and Sudha’s father was a businessman and hermother a designer.

Anu’s mother worked by carrying head loads of bricks until she went intolabour. She then went behind the tool shed on the construction site anddelivered her baby alone. She fed her child and then wrapped her in an oldsari, made a cradle with a gunny sack, put little Anu in it and hung it from atree. She hurried back to work as she was afraid she would lose her job. Shehoped that Anu would sleep until evening.

Sudha was born in one of the best nursing homes in the city. She wasthoroughly checked by doctors, she was bathed and dressed in clean softclothes and placed in a crib next to her mother. Her mother fed her whenevershe was hungry, hugged and kissed her and sang her to sleep. Her familyand friends celebrated her arrival.

Anu and Sudha had very different childhoods. Anu learnt to look afterherself at a very early age. She knew what hunger and deprivation were. Shediscovered how to pick food from the dustbin, how to keep warm during thewinter, to find shelter in the monsoon and how to play with a piece of string,stones and twigs. Anu could not go to school as her parents were migrantworkers who kept moving from city to city in search of work.

Anu loved to dance. Whenever she heard music she would improvise. Shewas very beautiful and her movements were graceful and evocative. Her dreamwas to dance on a stage some day. Anu could have become a great dancerbut she had to begin work at the age of 12. She had to earn a living with hermother and father, building houses for the rich. Houses, she would never live in.

Sudha went to a very good play school where she learnt how to read,write and count. She went on excursions to the planetarium, museum andnational parks. She later went to a very good school. She loved painting andstarted getting private lessons from a famous artist. She later joined a designschool and became a well-known painter.

of poor and vulnerable groups inurban areas. The poor people possessfew assets and reside in kutcha

hutments with walls made of bakedmud and roofs made of grass, thatch,bamboo and wood. The poorest ofthem do not even have suchdwellings. In rural areas many ofthem are landless. Even if some ofthem possess land, it is only dry orwaste land. Many do not get to have

even two meals a day. Starvation andhunger are the key features of thepoorest households. The poor lackbasic literacy and skills and hencehave very l imited economicopportunities. Poor people also faceunstable employment.

Malnutrition is alarmingly highamong the poor. Ill health, disabilityor serious i l lness makes themphysically weak. They borrow from

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moneylenders, who chargehigh rates of interest thatlead them into chronicindebtedness. The poor arehighly vulnerable. They arenot able to negotiate theirlegal wages from employersand are exploited. Most poorhouseholds have no accessto electricity. Their primarycooking fuel is firewood andcow dung cake. A largesection of poor people donot even have access tosafe drinking water. Thereis evidence of extremegender inequality in theparticipation of gainfulemployment, education and indecision-making within the family.Poor women receive less care on theirway to motherhood. Their children areless likely to survive or be born healthy.

Economists identify the poor onthe basis of their occupation and

ownership of assets. They statethat the rural poor work mainlyas landless agricultural labourers,cult ivators with very smalllandholdings, or landless labourers,who are engaged in a variety ofnon-agricultural jobs and tenant

cultivators with smallland holdings. The urbanpoor are largely theoverflow of the rural poorwho had migrated tourban areas in search ofalternative employmentand livelihood, labourerswho do a variety of casualjobs and the self-emloyedwho sel l a variety ofthings on roadsides andare engaged in variousactivities.

Fig. 4.2 Many poor families live in kutcha houses

Fig. 4.1 Majority of agricultural labourers are poor

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63POVERTY

4.3 HOW ARE POOR PEOPLE IDENTIFIED?

If India is to solve the problem ofpoverty, it has to find viable andsustainable strategies to address thecauses of poverty and design schemesto help the poor out of their situation.However, for these schemes to beimplemented, the government needsto be able to identify who the poor are.For this there is need to develop ascale to measure poverty, and thefactors that make up the criteria forthis measurement or mechanism needto be carefully chosen.

In pre-independent India,Dadabhai Naoroji was the first todiscuss the concept of a Poverty Line.He used the menu for a prisoner andused appropriate prevailing prices toarrive at what may be called ‘jail costof living’. However, only adults stayin jail whereas, in an actual society,there are children too. He, therefore,appropriately adjusted this cost ofliving to arrive at the poverty line.

For this adjustment, he assumedthat one-third population consistedof ch i ldren and hal f o f them

consumed very little while the otherhalf consumed half of the adultdiet. This is how he arrived at the

factor of three-fourths; (1/6)(Nil) +(1/6)(Half) + (2/3)(Full) = (3/4)(Full). The weighted average of

consumption of the three segmentsgives the average poverty l ine,which comes out to be three-fourth

of the adult jail cost of living.In post-independent India, there

have been several attempts to work

out a mechanism to identify thenumber of poor in the country. Forinstance, in 1962, the Planning

Commission formed a Study Group.In 1979, another body called the‘Task Force on Projections of

Minimum Needs and EffectiveConsumption Demand’ was formed.In 1989 and 2005, ‘Expert Groups’

were constituted for the same purpose.

Box 4.2 : What is Poverty?

Two scholars, Shaheen Rafi Khan and Damian Killen, put the conditions ofthe poor in a nutshell: Poverty is hunger. Poverty is being sick and not beingable to see a doctor. Poverty is not being able to go to school and not knowinghow to read. Poverty is not having a job. Poverty is fear for the future, havingfood once in a day. Poverty is losing a child to illness, brought about by unclearwater. Poverty is powerlessness, lack of representation and freedom.

What do you think?

Chart 4.1: Poverty Line

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Besides the Planning Commission,

many individual economists have also

attempted to develop such a mechanism.

For the purpose of defining

poverty, we divide people into two

categories; the poor and the non-poor

and the poverty line separates the two.

However, there are many kinds of

poor; the absolutely poor, the very

poor and the poor. Similarly, there are

various kinds of non-poor; the middle

class, the upper middle class, the rich,

the very rich and the absolutely rich.

Think of this as a line or continuum

from the very poor to the absolutely

rich with the poverty line dividing the

poor from the non-poor.

Categorising Poverty: There are many

ways to categorise poverty. In one such

way people who are always poor and

those who are usually poor but who

may sometimes have a little more

money (example: casual workers) are

grouped together as the chronic poor.

Another group are the churning poor

who regularly move in and out of

poverty (example: small farmers

and seasonal workers) and the

occasionally poor who are rich most

of the time but may sometimes have a

patch of bad luck. They are called the

transient poor. And then, there are

those who are never poor and they are

the non-poor (Chart 4.2).

The Poverty Line: Now, let us

examine how to determine the

poverty line. There are many ways of

measuring poverty. One way is to

determine it by the monetary value

(per capita expenditure) of the

minimum calorie intake that was

estimated at 2,400 calories for a rural

person and 2,100 for a person in

the urban area. Based on this, in

2011-12, the poverty line was defined

for rural areas as consumption worth

Rs 816 per person a month and for

urban areas it was Rs 1,000.

Though the government uses

Monthly Per Capita Expenditure (MPCE)

as proxy for income of households to

identify the poor, do you think this

mechanism satisfactorily identifies the

poor households in our country?

Chart 4.2: The Chronic Poor, Transient Poor and Non-poor

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65POVERTY

Economists state that a major

problem with this mechanism is that it

groups all the poor together and does

not differentiate between the very poor

and the other poor (See chart 4.2). Also

this mechanism takes into account

expenditure on food and a few select

items as proxy for income, economists

question its basis. This mechanism is

helpful in identifying the poor as a

group to be taken care of by the

government, but it would be difficult to

identify who among the poor need help

the most.There are many factors, other than

income and assets, which are associated

with poverty; for instance, the

accessibility to basic education, health

care, drinking water and sanitation.

They need to be considered to develop

Poverty Line. The existing mechanism

for determining the Poverty Line also

does not take into consideration social

factors that trigger and perpetuate

poverty such as illiteracy, ill health,

lack of access to resources,

discrimination or lack of civil and

political freedoms. The aim of poverty

alleviation schemes should be to

improve human lives by expanding the

range of things that a person could be

and could do, such as to be healthy and

well-nourished, to be knowledgeable

and participate in the life of a

community. From this point of view,

development is about removing the

obstacles to the things that a person

can do in life, such as illiteracy, ill

health, lack of access to resources,

or lack of civil and political

freedoms.

Though the government claims that

higher rate of growth, increase in

agricultural production, providing

employment in rural areas and

economic reform packages introduced

in the 1990s have resulted in a decline

in poverty levels, economists raise

doubts about the government’s claim.

They point out that the way the data

are collected, items that are included

in the consumption basket,

methodology followed to estimate the

poverty line and the number of poor

are manipulated to arrive at the

reduced figures of the number of poor

in India.

Due to various limitations in the

official estimation of poverty, scholars

have attempted to find alternative

methods. For instance, Amartya Sen,

noted Nobel Laureate, has developed

an index known as Sen Index. There

are other tools such as Poverty Gap

Index and Squared Poverty Gap. You

will learn about these tools in higher

classes.

4.4 THE NUMBER OF POOR IN INDIA

When the number of poor is

estimated as the proportion of

people below the poverty line, it is

known as ‘Head Count Ratio’.

You might be interested in

knowing the total number of poor

persons residing in India. Where do

they reside and has their number or

proportion declined over the years or

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not? When such a comparative

analysis of poor people is made

in terms of ratios and percentages,

we will have an idea of different

levels of poverty of people and

their distribution; between states and

over time.

The official data on poverty is

made available to the public by the

P lanning Commiss ion. I t i s

estimated on the basis of consumption

expenditure data collected by the

National Sample Survey Organisation

(NSSO). Chart 4.3 shows the number

of poor and their proportion to the

population in India for the years 1973-

2012. In 1973-74, more than 320

million people were below the poverty

line. In 2011-12, this number has

come down to about 270 million.

Chart 4.3: Trends in Poverty in India, 1973–2012

Work These Out

Ø In Sections 4.2 and 4.3, you will notice that the poor are identified not only

with income and expenditure related indicators but also with many otheritems such as access to land, housing, education, health, sanitation. Alsoto be considered is discriminatory practices. Discuss how an alternativepoverty line could be constructed in such a way that it includes all theother indicators.

Ø On the basis of the given definition for poverty line, find out whether peoplewho work as domestic help, dhobies and newspaper vendors etc. in yourlocality/neighbourhood are above the poverty line or not.

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67POVERTY

In terms of proportion, in 1973-74,

about 55 per cent of the total

population was below the poverty line.

In 2011-12, it has fallen to 22 per cent.

In 1973-74, more than 80 per cent

of the poor resided in rural areas and

this situation has not changed even in

2011-12. This means that more than

three-fourth of the poor in India still

reside in villages. Why do you think this

is the case?

In the 1990s, the absolute

number of poor in rural areas had

declined whereas the number of their

urban counterparts increased

marginally. The poverty ratio declined

continuously for both urban and

rural areas. From Chart 4.3, you will

notice that during 1973-2012, there

has been a decline in the number of

poor and their proportion but the

nature of decline in the two

parameters is not encouraging. The

ratio is declining much slower than

the absolute number of poor in the

country. You will also notice that

the gap between the absolute

number of poor in rural and urban

areas got reduced whereas in the

case of ratio the gap has remained

the same until 1999-2000 and has

widened in 2011-12.

Chart 4.4: Population Below Poverty Line in Some Large States, 1973-2012 (%)

Note: For the year 1973, Uttar Pradesh includes the present Uttarakhand;

Madhya Pradesh includes Chhattisgarh and Bihar includes Jharkhand.

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Aggregate poverty is just the sum of

individual poverty. Poverty is also

explained by general, economy-wide

problems, such as (i) low capitalformation (ii) lack of infrastructure

(iii) lack of demand (iv) pressureof population (v) lack of social/welfare nets.

In Chapter 1 you have readabout the British rule in India.Although the final impact of the

British rule on Indian l iv ingstandards is still being debated, thereis no doubt that there was a

substantial negative impact on theIndian economy and standard ofliving of the people. There was

substantial de-industrialisation inIndia under the British rule. Importsof manufactured cotton cloth from

Lancashire in England displacedmuch local production, and Indiareverted to being an exporter of

cotton yarn, not cloth.As over 70 per cent of Indians

were engaged in agr icul ture

throughout the British Raj period,the impact on that sector was moreimportant on living standards than

anything else. Brit ish pol iciesinvolved sharply raising rural taxesthat enabled merchants and

moneylenders to become largelandowners. Under the British,India began to export food grains

and, as a result, as many as 26mill ion people died in faminesbetween 1875 and 1900.

Britain’s main goals from the Rajwere to provide a market for Britishexports, to have India service its

The state level trends in poverty areshown in Chart 4.4. The two lines inthe chart indicate the national povertylevel. The first line from below indicatespoverty level during 2011-12 and theother line indicates the same for theyear 1973-74. This means, theproportion of poor in India during1973-2012 has come down from 55 to22 per cent. The chart also reveals thatsix states - Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh,Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengaland Orissa - contained a large sectionof poor in 1973-74. During 1973-2012, many Indian states reduced thepoverty levels to a considerable extent.Yet, the poverty levels in four states -Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar andUttar Pradesh are still far above thenational poverty level. You may noticeWest Bengal and Tamil Nadu reducedpoverty level much better than otherstates. How come they were able to domuch better than other states?

4.5 WHAT CAUSES POVERTY?

The causes of poverty lie in the

institutional and social factors that

mark the life of the poor. The poor are

deprived of quality education and

unable to acquire skil ls which

fetch better incomes. Also access to

health care is denied to the poor. The

main victims of caste, religious and

other discriminatory practices are

poor. These can be caused as a result

of (i) social, economic and political

inequality (ii) social exclusion (iii)

unemployment (iv) indebtedness (v)

unequal distribution of wealth.

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69POVERTY

debt payments to Britain,and for India to providemanpower for the British

imperial armies.

The British Raj impoverishedmillions of people in India. Ournatural resources wereplundered, our industriesworked to produce goods atlow prices for the British andour food grains were exported.Many died due to famine andhunger. In 1857-58, anger atthe overthrow of many localleaders, extremely high taxesimposed on peasants, andother resentments boiled overin a revolt against British ruleby the sepoys, Indian troopscommanded by the British.

Even today agriculture is theprincipal means of livelihood andland is the primary asset of ruralpeople; ownership of land is animportant determinant of materialwell-being and those who own someland have a better chance to improvetheir living conditions.

Since independence, the governmenthas attempted to redistribute land andhas taken land from those who havelarge amounts to distribute it to thosewho do not have any land, but workon the land as wage labourers.However, this move was successfulonly to a limited extent as largesections of agricultural workers werenot able to farm the small holdingsthat they now possessed as they didnot have either money (assets) orskills to make the land productive

and the land holdings were too smallto be viable. Also most of the Indianstates failed to implement landredistribution policies.

A large section of the rural poorin India are the small farmers. Theland that they have is, in general,less fert i le and dependent onrains. Their survival depends onsubsistence crops and sometimeson livestock. With the rapid growthof populat ion and withoutalternative sources of employment,the per-head availability of land forcultivation has steadily declinedleading to fragmentation of landholdings. The income from thesesmall land holdings is not sufficientto meet the family ’s basicrequirements.

You must have heard aboutfarmers committing suicide due totheir inability to pay back the loansthat they have taken for cultivation

Fig. 4.4 Low quality self-employment sustains poverty

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and other domestic needs as theircrops have failed due to drought orother natural calamities (see Box 4.3).

Most members of scheduled castesand scheduled tribes are not able toparticipate in the emerging employmentopportunities in different sectors of theurban and rural economy as they do nothave the necessary knowledge and skillsto do so.

A large section of urban poor

in India are largely the overflowof the rural poor who migrateto urban areas in searchof employment and a livelihood.Industrialisation has not beenable to absorb all these people.The urban poor are eitherunemployed or intermittentlyemployed as casual labourers.Casual labourers are among themost vulnerable in society asthey have no job security, noassets, limited skills, sparseopportunities and no surplus tosustain them.

Poverty is, therefore, alsoclosely related to nature ofemployment. Unemployment or underemployment and the casual andintermittent nature of work in bothrural and urban areas that compelsindebtedness, in turn, reinforces

poverty. Indebtedness is one of thesignificant factors of poverty.

A steep rise in the price of food

grains and other essential goods, at

Fig. 4.5 Quality employment is still a dream for the poor

Work These Out

Ø You may come across washermen and barbers in your neighbourhood. Spare

a few moments and speak to a few of them. Collect details about what made

them to take up this activity, where they live with their family members,

number of meals they are able to consume in a day, whether they possess

any physical assets and why they could not take up a job. Discuss the details

that you have collected in the classroom.

Ø List the activities of people in rural and urban areas separately. You may

also list the activities of the non-poor. Compare the two and discuss in the

classroom why the poor are unable to take up such activities.

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71POVERTY

Box 4.3: Distress Among Cotton Farmers

Many small land owning farmers and farming households and weavers are descendinginto poverty due to globalisation related shock and lack of perceived income earningopportunities in relatively well performing states in India. Where households havebeen able to sell assets, or borrow, or generate income from alternative employmentopportunities, the impact of such shocks maybe transient. However, if the household has noassets to sell or no access to credit, or is able toborrow only at exploitative rates of interest andgets into a severe debt trap, the shocks can havelong duration ramification in terms of pushinghouseholds below the poverty line. The worstform of this crisis is suicides. The count reached3,000 in Andhra Pradesh alone and is rising. InDecember 2005, the Maharashtra governmentadmitted that over 1,000 farmers have committedsuicides in the state since 2001.

India has the largest area under cottoncultivation in the world covering 8,300 hectaresin 2002–03. The low yield of 300 kg per hectarepushes it into third position in production. Highproduction costs, low and unstable yields,decline in world prices, global glut in productiondue to subsidies by the U.S.A. and othercountries, and opening up of the domesticmarket due to globalisation have increased theexposure of farmers and led to agrarian distressand suicides especially in the cotton belt of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. Theissue is not one of profits and higher returns but that of the livelihood and survivalof millions of small and marginal farmers who are dependent on agriculture.

Scholars cite several factors that have led farmers to commit suicides (i) theshift from traditional farming to the farming of high yielding commercial crops withoutadequate technical support combined with withdrawal of the state in the area ofagricultural extension services in providing counselling on farm technologies,problems faced, immediate remedial steps and lack of timely advice to farmers (ii)decline in public investment in agriculture in the last two decades (iii) low rates ofgermination of seeds provided by large global firms, spurious seeds and pesticides byprivate agents (iv) crop failure, pest attack and drought (v) debt at very high interestrate of 36 per cent to 120 per cent from private money lenders (vi) cheap importsleading to decline in pricing and profits (vii) lack of access to water for crops whichforced the farmers to borrow money at exorbitant rates of interest to sink borewellsthat failed.

Sources: Excerpted from A.K. Mehta and Sourabh Ghosh assited by Ritu Elwadhi,“Globalisation, Loss of Livelihoods and Entry into Poverty,” Alternative EconomicSurvey, India 2004-2005, Alternative Survey Group, Daanish Books, Delhi 2005and P. Sainath, The swelling ‘Register of Deaths’, The Hindu, 29 December 2005.

Shantabai, wife of Neelakanta

Sitaram Khoke who committedsuicide in Yavatma, Maharashtra

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a rate higher than the price of luxury

goods, further intensif ies thehardship and deprivation of lower

income groups. The unequal

distribution of income and assets has

also led to the persistence of povertyin India.

All this has created two distinct

groups in society: those who posses

the means of production and earngood incomes and those who have

only their labour to trade for survival.

Over the years, the gap between the

rich and the poor in India has widened.Poverty is a multi-dimensional

challenge for India that needs to be

addressed on a war footing.

4.6 POLICIES AND PROGRAMMES

TOWARDS POVERTY ALLEVIATION

The Indian Constitution and five

year plans state social justice as

the primary objective of thedevelopmental strategies of the

government. To quote the First Five

Year Plan (1951-56), “the urge to

bring economic and social changeunder present conditions comes from

the fact of poverty and inequalities in

income, wealth and opportunity”.

The Second Five Year Plan (1956-61)also pointed out that “the benefits of

economic development must accrue

more and more to the relatively less

privileged classes of society”. One canfind, in al l pol icy documents,emphasis being laid on povertyal leviation and that variousstrategies need to be adopted by thegovernment for the same.

The government’s approach topoverty reduction was of threedimensions. The first one is growth-oriented approach. It is based on theexpectation that the effects ofeconomic growth — rapid increase ingross domestic product and percapita income — would spread to allsections of society and will trickledown to the poor sections also. Thiswas the major focus of planningin the 1950s and early 1960s.It was felt that rapid industrialdevelopment and transformationof agriculture through greenrevolution in select regions wouldbenefit the underdeveloped regionsand the more backward sections ofthe community. You must have readin Chapters 2 and 3 that the overallgrowth and growth of agricultureand industry have not beenimpressive. Population growth hasresulted in a very low growth in percapita incomes. The gap betweenpoor and rich has actually widened.The Green Revolution exacerbated thedisparities regionally and betweenlarge and small farmers. There wasunwil l ingness and inabil i ty toredistribute land. Economists statethat the benefits of economic growthhave not trickled down to the poor.

While looking for alternatives tospecifically address the poor, policymakers started thinking thatincomes and employment for thepoor could be raised through thecreation of additional assets and bymeans of work generation. Thiscould be achieved through specific

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73POVERTY

poverty alleviation programmes.This second approach has beeninitiated from the Third Five YearPlan (1961-66) and progressivelyenlarged since then. One of the notedprogrammes initiated in the 1970swas Food for Work.

Most poverty alleviationprogrammes implemented are basedon the perspective of the Five YearPlans. Expanding self-employmentprogrammes and wage employmentprogrammes are being considered asthe major ways of addressing poverty.Examples of self-employmentprogrammes are Rural EmploymentGeneration Programme (REGP), PrimeMinister’s Rozgar Yojana (PMRY) andSwarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar

Yojana (SJSRY). The first programmeaims at creating self-employmentopportunities in urban areas. The Khadiand Village Industries Commission isimplementing it. Under this programme,one can get financial assistance in theform of bank loans to set up smallindustries. The educated unemployedfrom low-income families in rural andurban areas can get financial help toset up any kind of enterprise thatgenerates employment under PMRY.SJSRY mainly aims at creatingemployment opportunities—both self-employment and wage employment—inurban areas.

Earlier, under self-employmentprogrammes, financial assistance wasgiven to families or individuals. Since

Fig. 4.6 Wage employment under ‘Food for Work’ programme

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the 1990s, this approach has beenchanged. Now those who wish tobenefit from these programmes areencouraged to form self-help groups.Initially they are encouraged to savesome money and lend amongthemselves as small loans. Later,through banks, the governmentprovides partial financial assistanceto SHGs which then decide whomthe loan is to be given to for self-employment activities. SwarnajayantiGram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) is onesuch programme. This has now beenrestructured as National RuralLivelihoods Mission (NRLM). A similarprogramme called National UrbanLivelihoods Mission has also been inplace for urban poor.

The government has a variety ofprogrammes to generate wageemployment for the poor unskilledpeople living in rural areas. In August2005, the Parliament passed a new Actto provide guaranteed wage employmentto every rural household whose adultvolunteer is to do unskilled manualwork for a minimum of 100 days in ayear. This Act is known as MahatmaGandhi National Rural EmploymentGuarantee Act. Under this Act all thoseamong the poor who are ready to workat the minimum wage can report forwork in areas where this programme isimplemented. In 2013-14, nearly fivecrore households got employmentopportunities under this law.

The third approach to addressingpoverty is to provide minimum basicamenities to the people. India wasamong the pioneers in the world toenvisage that through public

expenditure on social consumptionneeds — provision of food grains atsubsidised rates, education, health,water supply and sanitation—people’sliving standard could be improved.Programmes under this approach areexpected to supplement the consumptionof the poor, create employmentopportunities and bring aboutimprovements in health and education.One can trace this approach from theFifth Five Year Plan, “even with expandedemployment opportunities, the poor willnot be able to buy for themselves all theessential goods and services. They haveto be supplemented up to at least certainminimum standards by socialconsumption and investment in theform of essential food grains,education, health, nutrition, drinkingwater, housing, communications andelectricity.” Three major programmesthat aim at improving the food andnutritional status of the poor are PublicDistribution System, Integrated ChildDevelopment Scheme and Midday MealScheme. Pradhan Mantri Gram SadakYojana, Pradhan Mantri GramodayaYojana, Valmiki Ambedkar AwasYojana are also attempts in developinginfrastructure and housing conditions.It may be essential to briefly state thatIndia has achieved satisfactory progressin many aspects.

The government also has a varietyof other social security programmesto help a few specific groups. NationalSocial Assistance Programme is onesuch programme initiated by thecentral government. Under thisprogramme, elderly people who donot have anyone to take care of themare given pension to sustain

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75POVERTY

themselves. Poor women who are

destitute and widows are also

covered under this scheme. The

government has also introduced a few

schemes to provide health insurance to

poor people. From 2014, a scheme

called Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan

Yojana is available in which people in

India are encouraged to open bank

accounts. Besides promoting savings

habit, this scheme intends to transfer

all the benefits of government schemes

and subsidies to account holders

directly. Each bank account holder is

also entitled to Rs. 1 lakh accident

insurance and Rs. 30,000 life

insurance cover.

4.7 POVERTY ALLEVIATION

PROGRAMMES — A CRITICAL

ASSESSMENT

Efforts at poverty alleviation have bornefruit in that for the first time sinceindependence, the percentage ofabsolute poor in some states is nowwell below the national average. Despite

various strategies to alleviate poverty,hunger, malnourishment, illiteracyand lack of basic amenities continueto be a common featurein many parts of India. Though thepolicy towards poverty alleviationhas evolved in a progressive manner,over the last five and a half decades,it has not undergone any radicaltransformation. You can findchange in nomenclature, integrationor mutations of programmes.However, none resulted in anyradical change in the ownership ofassets, process of production andimprovement of basic amenitiesto the needy. Scholars, whi leassessing these programmes, statethree major areas of concern whichprevent their successfulimplementation. Due to unequaldistribution of land and other assets,the benefits from direct povertyalleviation programmes have beenappropriated by the non-poor.Compared to the magnitude ofpoverty, the amount of resources

Work These Out

Ø Discuss and then develop a list of three employment opportunities each

that can arise in coastal areas, deserts, hilly tribal areas, tribal areasunder : (i) Food for Work Programme and (ii) self-employment.

Ø In your area or neighbourhood, you will find developmental works suchas laying of roads, construction of buildings in government hospitals,government schools etc. Visit such sites and prepare a two-three pagereport on the nature of work, how many people are getting employed,wages paid to the labourers etc.

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Box 4.4: Ramdas Korwa’s Road to Nowhere

Somehow, Ramdas Korwa of Rachketha village was not overjoyed to learn

that he was worth Rs l7.44 lakh to the government. Late in 1993, the

authorities decided to lay a three km road leading to Rachketha village in the

name of tribal development by allocating Rs 17.44 lakh towards the project.

Tribals constitute a 55 per cent majority in Surguja, one of India’s poorest

districts. And the Pahadi or Hill Korwas, who have been listed as a primitive

tribe by the government, fall in the bottom 5 per cent. Special efforts are

underway for their development which often involves large sums of money.

Just one centrally funded scheme, the Pahadi Korwa project, is worth Rs 42

crores over a five-year period.

There are around 15,000 Pahadi Korwas, the largest number of these in

Surguja. However, for political reasons, the main base of the project is in

Raigad district. There was just one small problem about building the Pahadi

Korwa Marg in Rachketha—the village is almost completely devoid of Pahadi

Korwas. Ramdas’s family is the only real exception.

‘It doesn’t matter if these don’t benefit the Pahadi Korwas in the least and

are completely useless. Out here, even if you put up a swimming pool and a

bungalow, you do it in the name of tribal development,’ says an NGO activist.

‘Nobody bothered to check whether there were really any Pahadi Korwas living

in Rachketha village’ and ‘there was already a kutcha road here,’ says

Ramavatar Korwa, son of Ramdas. ‘They just added lal mitti (red earth) to it.

Even today, after spending Rs 17.44 lakh, it is not a pucca road.’

Ramdas’s own demands are touchingly simple. ‘All I want is a little water,’

he says. ‘How can we have agriculture without water?’ When repeatedly

pressed, he adds: ‘Instead of spending Rs 17.44 lakh on that road, if they had

spent a few thousand on improving that damaged well on my land, wouldn’t

that have been better? Some improvement in the land is also necessary, but

let them start by giving us a little water.’

Ramdas’s problems were ignored. The government’s problem was ‘fulfilling

a target’. ‘If the money were simply put into bank fixed deposits, none of these

Pahadi Korwa families would ever have to work again. The interest alone would

make them very well off by Surguja’s standards’, says an official mockingly.

Nobody thought of asking Ramdas what he really needed, what his

problems were, or involving him in their solution. Instead, in his name, they

built a road he does not use, at a cost of Rs17.44 lakh. ‘Please do something

about my water problem, sir,’ says Ramdas Korwa as we set off across the

plain, journeying two km to reach his road to nowhere.

Source: Excerpted from P. Sainath, 1996, Everybody Loves a Good Drought:

Stories from India’s Poorest Districts, Penguin Books, New Delhi.

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77POVERTY

allocated for these programmes is notsufficient. Moreover, these programmesdepend mainly on government andbank officials for their implementation.Since such officials are ill motivated,inadequately trained, corruption proneand vulnerable to pressure from avariety of local elites, the resourcesare inefficiently used and wasted.There is also non-participation of locallevel institutions in programmeimplementation.

Government policies have alsofailed to address the vast majority ofvulnerable people who are living on or

just above the poverty line. It alsoreveals that high growth alone is notsufficient to reduce poverty. Withoutthe active participation of the poor,successful implementation of anyprogramme is not possible.

Poverty can effectively be eradicatedonly when the poor start contributingto growth by their active involvementin the growth process. This ispossible through a process of socialmobilisation, encouraging poor peopleto participate and get them empowered.This will also help create employmentopportunities which may lead toincrease in levels of income, skilldevelopment, health and literacy.Moreover, it is necessary to identifypoverty stricken areas and provideinfrastructure such as schools, roads,power, telecom, IT services, traininginstitutions etc.

4.8 CONCLUSION

We have travelled about six decadessince independence. The objective ofall our policies had been stated aspromoting rapid and balancedeconomic development with equalityand social justice. Poverty alleviationhas always been accepted as one ofIndia’s main challenges by thepolicy makers, regardless of whichgovernment was in power. Theabsolute number of poor in the countryhas gone down and some states haveless proportion of poor than even thenational average. Yet, critics point outthat even though vast resourceshave been allocated and spent, weare still far from reaching the goal.

Fig. 4.7 Scrap collector: mismangament of

employment planning forces people totake up very low paying jobs

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There is improvement in terms of percapita income and average standardof living; some progress towardsmeeting the basic needs has beenmade. But when compared to theprogress made by many othercountries, our performance has notbeen impressive. Moreover, the fruitsof development have not reached all

sections of the population. Somesections of people, some sectors ofthe economy, some regions of thecountry can compete even withdeveloped countries in terms ofsocial and economic development,yet, there are many others who havenot been able to come out of thevicious circle of poverty.

Recap

Ø Reducing poverty has been one of the major objectives of India’s

developmental strategies.

Ø The per capita consumption expenditure level which meets the averageper capita daily requirement of 2,400 calories in rural areas and 2,100calories in urban areas, along with a minimum of non-food expenditure,is called poverty line or absolute poverty.

Ø When the number of poor and their proportion is compared, we will havean idea of different levels of poverty of people and their distribution betweenstates and over time.

Ø The number of poor in India and their proportion to total population hasdeclined substantially. For the first time in the 1990s, the absolutenumber of poor has declined.

Ø Majority of poor are residing in rural areas and engage themselves in

casual and unskilled jobs.

Ø Income and expenditure oriented approaches do not take into account

many other attributes of the poor people.

Ø Over the years, the government has been following three approaches toreduce poverty in India: growth oriented development, specific povertyalleviation programmes and meeting the minimum needs of the poor.

Ø Government initiatives are yet to transform the ownership of assets,

processes of production and meet the basic amenities of the poor.

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79POVERTY

1. Why calorie - based norm is not adequate to identify the poor?

2. What is meant by ‘Food for Work’ programme?

3. Why are employment generation programmes important in povertyalleviation in India?

4. How can creation of income earning assets address the problemof poverty?

5. The three dimensional attack on poverty adopted by the govern-ment has not succeded in poverty alleviation in India. Comment.

6. What programmes has the government adopted to help theelderly people and poor and destitute women?

7. Is there any relationship between unemployment and poverty?Explain.

8. Suppose you are from a poor family and you wish to get help fromthe government to set up a petty shop. Under which scheme willyou apply for assistance and why?

9. Illustrate the difference between rural and urban poverty. Is itcorrect to say that poverty has shifted from rural to urban areas?Use the trends in poverty ratio to support your answer.

10. Suppose you are a resident of a village, suggest a few measuresto tackle the problem of poverty.

1. Collect data from 30 persons of your locality regarding their dailyconsumption of various commodities. Then rank the persons onthe basis of relatively better off and worse, to get the degree ofrelative poverty.

EXERCISES


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2. Collect information and fill in the following table with the amount ofmoney spent in terms of rupees by four low income families onvarious commodities. Analyse the research and find out whichfamily is relatively poor in comparison to the other families. Alsofind out who are absolutely poor if the poverty line is fixed at anexpenditure of Rs 500 per month per person.

Commodities Family A Family B Family C Family D

Wheat/RiceVegetable OilSugarElectricity/LightingGheeClothesHouse Rent

2. The following table shows the average monthly expenditure perperson on items of consumption in India and Delhi slums in termsof percentage. ‘Rice and wheat’ in rural areas at 25 per centmeans that for every 100 rupees spent, Rs 25 goes towards thepurchase of rice and wheat alone. Read the table further andanswer the questions that follow.

Items Rural Urban Delhi Slums

Rice and wheat 25.0 35.9 28.7Pulses and their products 5.7 6.1 9.9Milk and milk products 17.4 14.1 10.3Vegetables and fruits 15.1 12.7 19.6Meat, fish and eggs 6.3 5.3 13.1Sugar 3.3 3.8 4.0Salt and spices 10.8 10.8 8.1Other food items 16.5 11.3 6.4Total: All food 100 100 100Expenditure on food 62.9 72.2 72.8items as a % of all items

• Compare the percentage of expenditure on food items among

different groups and their priorities.

• Do you think households in slums are depending more on cereals

and pulses?

• On which item do people living in different areas spend the least?

Compare them.

• Do you think that slum dwellers have given more emphasis to

meat, fish and eggs?

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81POVERTY

Books

DANDEKAR, V.M. and NILAKANTHA RATH. 1971. Poverty in India, Indian Schoolof Political Economy, Pune.

DREZE, JEAN. AMARTYA SEN and AKTHAR HUSAIN (Eds.). 1995. The Political

Economy of Hunger. Clarendon Press, Oxford.

NAOROJI, DADABHAI. 1996. Poverty and Un-British Rule in India, PublicationsDivision, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government ofIndia, Second Edition, New Delhi.

SAINATH, P. 1996. Everybody Loves a Good Drought: Stories from India’s

Poorest Districts. Penguin Books, New Delhi.

SEN, AMARTYA. 1999. Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and

Deprivation. Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

SUBRAMANIAM, S. (Ed.). 2001. India’s Development Experience: Selected

Writings of S. Guhan. Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

Articles

KUMAR, NAVEEN and S.C. AGGARWAL. 2003. ‘Pattern of Consumption andPoverty in Delhi Slums.’ Economic and Political Weekly, December13, pp. 5294-5300.

MINHAS, B.S., L.R. JAIN and S.D. TENDULKAR. 1991. ‘Declining Incidence ofPoverty in the 1980s — Evidence versus Artefacts,’ Economic and

Political Weekly, July 6-13.

Government Reports

Report of the Expert Group of the Estimation of Proportion and Number of

Poor, Perspective Planning Division, Planning Commission Governmentof India, New Delhi, 1993.

Economic Survey (for various years). Ministry of Finance, Government of India.

Tenth Five Year Plan 2002-2007, Vol. II: Sectoral Policies and Programmes,

Planning Commission, Government of India, New Delhi.

Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-17), Vols. I, II and III. Sage Publications Pvt.Ltd., New Delhi (for Planning Commission, Government of India).

REFERENCES

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After studying this chapter, the learners will understand

• the concepts of Human Resource, Human Capital Formation and HumanDevelopment

• the links between investment in human capital, economic growth andhuman development

• the need for government spending on education and health

• the state of India’s educational attainment.

HUMAN CAPITAL

FORMATION IN INDIA

5

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83HUMAN CAPITAL FORMATION IN INDIA

5.1 INTRODUCTION

Think of one factor that has made agreat difference in the evolution ofmankind. Perhaps it is man’s capacityto store and transmit knowledgewhich he has been doing throughconversation, through songs andthrough elaborate lectures. But mansoon found out that we need a gooddeal of training and skill to do thingsefficiently. We know that the labourskill of an educated person is morethan that of an uneducated personand hence the former is able to generate

more income than the latter and hiscontribution to economic growth is,consequently, more.

Education is sought not only as itconfers higher earning capacity onpeople but also for its other highlyvalued benefits: it gives one a bettersocial standing and pride; it enablesone to make better choices in life; itprovides knowledge to understand thechanges taking place in society; it alsostimulates innovations. Moreover,the availability of educated labourforce facilitates adaptation of new

“... the wisdom of expending public and private funds on education is not to bemeasured by its direct fruits alone. It will be profitable as a mere investment,to give the masses of people much greater opportunities than they can generallyavail themselves of. For by this means many, who would have died unknown,are enabled to get the start needed for bringing out their latent abilities”.

Alfred Marshall

Fig. 5.1 Adequate education and training to farmers can raise productivity in farms

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technologies. Economists have stressedthe need for expanding educationalopportunities in a nation as itaccelerates the development process.

5.2 WHAT IS HUMAN CAPITAL?

Just as a country can turn physicalresources like land into physicalcapital like factories, similarly, it canalso turn human resources likestudents into human capital likeengineers and doctors. Societies needsufficient human capital in the firstplace — in the form of competentpeople who have themselves beeneducated and trained as professorsand other professionals. In otherwords, we need good human capitalto produce other human capital (say,doctors, engineers...). This means thatwe need investment in human capitalto produce more human capital out ofhuman resources.

Let us understand a little more ofwhat human capital means by posingthe following questions :

(i) What are the sources of humancapital?

(ii) Is there any relation betweenhuman capital and economicgrowth of a country?

(iii) Is the formation of humancapital linked to man’s all-rounddevelopment or, as it is now called,human development?

(iv) What role can the governmentplay in human capital formationin India?

5.3 SOURCES OF HUMAN CAPITAL

Investment in education is consideredas one of the main sources of humancapital. There are several other sourcesas well. Investments in health, on- the-job training, migration and informationare the other sources of human capitalformation.

Why do your parents spend moneyon education? Spending on education

by individuals is similar to spendingon capital goods by companies withthe objective of increasing futureprofits over a period of time. Likewise,individuals invest in education with theobjective of increasing their futureincome.

Like education, health is alsoconsidered as an important input forthe development of a nation as muchas it is important for the developmentof an individual.

Who can work better —a sickperson or a person with sound health?A sick labourer without access tomedical facilities is compelled toabstain from work and there is loss ofproductivity. Hence, expenditure onhealth is an important source ofhuman capital formation.

Work This Out

Ø Take three families fromdifferent strata (i) very poor(ii) middle class and (iii)affluent. Study theexpenditure pattern of thefamilies on education ofmale and female children.

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Preventive medicine(vaccination), curativemedicine (medicalintervention duringillness), social medi-cine (spread of healthliteracy) and provisionof clean drinking waterand good sanitation

are the various forms of healthexpenditures. Health expendituredirectly increases the supply of healthylabour force and is, thus, a source ofhuman capital formation.

Firms spend ongiving on-the-job-training totheir workers.This may takedifferent forms:one, the workersmay be trained

in the firm itself under the supervisionof a skilled worker; two, the workersmay be sent for off-campus training.In both these cases firms incur someexpenses. Firms will, thus, insist thatthe workers should work for a specificperiod of time, after their on-the-jobtraining, during which it can recoverthe benefits of the enhancedproductivity owing to the training.Expenditure regarding on-the-jobtraining is a source of human capitalformation as the return of suchexpenditure in the form of enhancedlabour productivity is more than thecost of it.

People migrate in search of jobsthat fetch them higher salaries thanwhat they may get in their native

places. Unemployment is the reasonfor the rural-urban migration in India.Technically qualified persons, likeengineers and doctors, migrate to othercountries because of higher salariesthat they may get in such countries.Migration in both these cases involvescost of transport, higher cost of livingin the migrated places and psychiccosts of living in a strange socio-cultural setup. The enhanced earningsin the new place outweigh the costs ofmigration; hence, expenditure onmigration is also a source of humancapital formation.

People spend to acquireinformation relating to the labourmarket and other markets likeeducation and health. For example,people want to know the level of salariesassociated with various types of jobs,whether the educational institutionsprovide the right type of employableskills and at what cost. This informationis necessary to make decisionsregarding investments in human capitalas well as for efficient utilisation of theacquired human capital stock.Expenditure incurred for acquiringinformation relating to the labourmarket and other markets is also asource of human capital formation.

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Box 5.1: Physical and Human Capital

Both the forms of capital formation are outcomes of conscious investment decisions.Decision regarding investment in physical capital is taken on the basis of one’s knowledgein this regard. The entrepreneur possesses knowledge to calculate the expected rates ofreturn to a range of investments and then rationally decides which one of theinvestments should be made. The ownership of physical capital is the outcome of theconscious decision of the owner — the physical capital formation is mainly an economicand technical process. A substantial part of the human capital formation takes placein one’s life when she/he is unable to decide whether it would maximise her/his earnings.Children are given different types of school education and health care facilities by theirparents and the society. The peers, educators and society influence the decisionsregarding human capital investments even at the tertiary level, that is, at the collegelevel. Moreover, the human capital formation at this stage is dependent upon the alreadyformed human capital at the school level. Human capital formation is partly a socialprocess and partly a conscious decision of the possessor of the human capital.

You know that the owner of a physical capital, say a bus, need not be present inthe place where it is used; whereas, a bus-driver, who possesses the knowledge andability to drive the bus, should be present when the bus is used for transportation ofpeople and materials. Physical capital is tangible and can be easily sold in the marketlike any other commodity. Human capital is intangible; it is endogenously built in thebody and mind of its owner. Human capital is not sold in the market; only the servicesof the human capital are sold and, hence, there arises the necessity of the owner of thehuman capital to be present in the place of production. The physical capital isseparable from its owner, whereas, human capital is inseparable from its owner.

The two forms of capital differ in terms of mobility across space. Physical capital iscompletely mobile between countries except for some artificial trade restrictions. Humancapital is not perfectly mobile between countries as movement is restricted by nationalityand culture. Therefore, physical capital formation can be built even through imports,whereas human capital formation is to be done through conscious policy formulationsin consonance with the nature of the society and economy and expenditure by thestate and the individuals.

Both forms of capital depreciate with time but the nature of depreciation differsbetween the two. Continuous use of machine leads to depreciation and change oftechnology makes a machine obsolete. In the case of human capital, depreciation takesplace with ageing but can be reduced, to a large extent, through continuous investmentin education, health, etc. This investment also facilitates the human capital to copewith change in technology which is not the case with physical capital.

Nature of benefits flowing from human capital are different from that of physicalcapital. Human capital benefits not only the owner but also the society in general. Thisis called external benefit. An educated person can effectively take part in a democraticprocess and contribute to the socio-economic progress of a nation. A healthy person,by maintaining personal hygiene and sanitation, stops the spread of contagious diseasesand epidemics. Human capital creates both private and social benefits, whereas physicalcapital creates only private benefit. That is, benefits from a capital good flow to thosewho pay the price for the product and services produced by it.

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The concept of physical capital isthe base for conceptualising humancapital. There are some similaritiesbetween the two forms of capital; thereare some striking dissimilarities aswell. See Box 5.1.

Human Capital and EconomicGrowth: Who contributes more tonational income — a worker in a factoryor a software professional? We knowthat the labour skill of an educatedperson is more than that of anuneducated person and that the formergenerates more income than the latter.Economic growth means the increasein real national income of a country;naturally, the contribution of theeducated person to economic growth ismore than that of an illiterate person. Ifa healthy person could provide

uninterrupted labour supply for alonger period of time, then health is alsoan important factor for economicgrowth. Thus, both education andhealth, along with many other factorslike on-the-job training, job marketinformation and migration, increase an

Fig. 5.2 Creating human capital: a school being run in make shift premises in Delhi

Look at Fig. 5.2and discuss.

(a) What are the advantages ofhaving proper ‘classroom’?

(b) Do you think the childrengoing to this schol arereceiving quality education?

(c) Why these schools do nothave buildings?

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individual’s income generatingcapacity.

This enhanced productivity ofhuman beings or human capitalcontributes substantially not onlytowards increasing labour productivitybut also stimulates innovationsand creates ability to absorb newtechnologies. Education providesknowledge to understand changes insociety and scientific advancements,thus, facilitate inventions andinnovations. Similarly, the availabilityof educated labour force facilitatesadaptation to new technologies.

Empirical evidence to prove thatincrease in human capital causeseconomic growth is rather nebulous.This may be because of measurementproblems. For example, educationmeasured in terms of years ofschooling, teacher-pupil ratio andenrolment rates may not reflect thequality of education; health servicesmeasured in monetary terms, lifeexpectancy and mortality rates maynot reflect the true health status of thepeople in a country. Using theindicators mentioned above, ananalysis of improvement in educationand health sectors and growth in realper capita income in both developingand developed countries shows thatthere is convergence in the measuresof human capital but no sign ofconvergence of per capita real income.In other words, the human capitalgrowth in developing countries hasbeen faster but the growth of per capitareal income has not been that fast.There are reasons to believe that the

causality between human capital andeconomic growth flows in eitherdirections. That is, higher incomecauses building of high level of humancapital and vice versa, that is, high levelof human capital causes growth ofincome.

India recognised the importance ofhuman capital in economic growthlong ago. The Seventh Five Year Plansays, “Human resources development(read human capital) has necessarilyto be assigned a key role in anydevelopment strategy, particularly ina country with a large population.Trained and educated on sound lines,a large population can itself becomean asset in accelerating economicgrowth and in ensuring social changein desired directions.”

It is difficult to establish a relationof cause and effect from the growth ofhuman capital (education and health)to economic growth but we can see in

Fig. 5.3 Scientific and technical manpower: a richingredient of human capital

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Table 5.1 that these sectors have grownsimultaneously. Growth in each sectorprobably has reinforced the growth ofevery other sector.

Two independent reports on theIndian economy, in recent times, haveidentified that India would grow fasterdue to its strength in human capitalformation. Deutsche Bank, a Germanbank, in its report on ‘Global GrowthCentres’ (published on 1.7.05)identified that India will emerge as one

among four major growth centres inthe world by the year 2020. It furtherstates, “Our empirical investigationsupports the view that human capitalis the most important factor ofproduction in today’s economies.Increases in human capital are crucialto achieving increases in GDP.” Withreference to India it states, “Between2005 and 2020 we expect a 40 per centrise in the average years of educationin India, to just above 7 years...”

World Bank, in its recentreport, ‘India and theKnowledge Economy —Leveraging Strengths andOpportunities’, states thatIndia should make atransition to the knowledgeeconomy and if it uses itsknowledge as much asIreland does (it is judged thatIreland uses its knowledgeeconomy very effectively),then the per capita income ofIndia will increase from alittle over US $1000 in

TABLE 5.1

Select Indicators of Development in Education and Health Sectors

Particulars 1951 1981 1991 2001 2014-15

Real Per Capita Income (in Rs) 7,651 12,174 15,748 23,095 72,900

Crude Death 25.1 12.5 9.8 8.1 6.7Rate (Per 1,000 Population)

Infant Mortality Rate 146 110 80 63 37

Life Expectancy 37.2 54.1 59.7 63.9 67at Birth (in Years)

36.2 54.7 60.9 66.9 70

16.67 43.57 52.21 65.20 76

Female

Male

Literacy Rate (%)

Fig. 5.4 Job on hand: transforming India into a knowledgeeconomy

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2002 to US $ 3000 in 2020. It furtherstates that the Indian economy has allthe key ingredients for making thistransition, such as, a critical mass ofskilled workers, a well-functioningdemocracy and a diversified scienceand technology infrastructure. Thusthe two reports point out the fact thatfurther human capital formation inIndia will move its economy to a highergrowth trajectory.

5.4 HUMAN CAPITAL AND HUMAN

DEVELOPMENT

The two terms sound similar but thereis a clear distinction between them.Human capital considers education andhealth as a means to increase labourproductivity. Human development isbased on the idea that education andhealth are integral to human well-beingbecause only when people have theability to read and write and the abilityto lead a long and healthy life, theywill be able to make other choiceswhich they value. Human capitaltreats human beings as a means toan end; the end being the increasein productivity. In this view, any

investment in education and health isunproductive if it does not enhanceoutput of goods and services. In thehuman development perspective,human beings are ends in themselves.Human welfare should be increasedthrough investments in education andhealth even if such investments do notresult in higher labour productivity.Therefore, basic education and basichealth are important in themselves,irrespective of their contribution tolabour productivity. In such a view,

Box 5.2: India as a Knowledge Economy

The Indian software industry has been showing an impressive record over thepast decade. Entrepreneurs, bureaucrats and politicians are now advancingviews about how India can transform itself into a knowledge-based economyby using information technology (IT). There have been some instances of villagersusing e-mail which are cited as examples of such transformation. Likewise,e-governance is being projected as the way of the future. The value of IT dependsgreatly on the existing level of economic development. Do you think IT - basedservices in rural areas will lead to human development? Discuss.

Work This Out

Ø If a construction worker,maid-servant, dhobi or apeon in school has absentedherself/himself for long dueto ill health, find out how ithas affected her/his

(i) job security

(ii) wage/salary

What could be the possiblereasons?

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every individual has a right to get basiceducation and basic health care, thatis, every individual has a right to beliterate and lead a healthy life.

5.5 STATE OF HUMAN CAPITAL

FORMATION IN INDIA

In this section we are going to analysehuman capital formation in India. Wehave already learnt that humancapital formation is the outcomeof investments in education, health,on-the-job training, migration andinformation. Of these education andhealth are very important sources ofhuman capital formation. We knowthat ours is a federal country with aunion government, state governmentsand local governments (MunicipalCorporations, Municipalities andVillage Panchayats). The Constitutionof India mentions the functions tobe carried out by each level ofgovernment. Accordingly, expendi-tures on both education and health areto be carried out simultaneously by allthe three tiers of the government.Analysis of health sector is taken upin Chapter 8; hence, we will analyseonly the education sector here.

Do you know who takes care ofeducation and health in India? Before wetake up the analysis of the educationsector in India, we will look into the needfor government intervention in educationand health sectors. We do understandthat education and health care servicescreate both private and social benefits andthis is the reason for the existence of bothprivate and public institutions in theeducation and health service markets.

Expenditures on education and healthmake substantial long-term impact andthey cannot be easily reversed; hence,government intervention is essential. Forinstance, once a child is admitted to aschool or health care centre where therequired services are not provided, beforethe decision is taken to shift the child toanother institution, substantial amountof damage would have been done.Moreover, individual consumers ofthese services do not have completeinformation about the quality of servicesand their costs. In this situation, theproviders of education and healthservices acquire monopoly power and areinvolved in exploitation. The role ofgovernment in this situation is to ensurethat the private providers of theseservices adhere to the standardsstipulated by the government and chargethe correct price.

In India, the ministries ofeducation at the union and state level,departments of education and variousorganisations like National Council ofEducational Research and Training(NCERT), University Grants Commission(UGC) and All India Council ofTechnical Education (AICTE) facilitateinstitutions which come under theeducation sector. Similarly, theministries of health at the union andstate level, departments of health andvarious organisations like IndianCouncil for Medical Research (ICMR)facilitate institutions which come underthe health sector.

In a developing country like ours,with a large section of the populationliving below the poverty line, many of

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us cannot afford to access basiceducation and health care facilities.Moreover, a substantial section of ourpeople cannot afford to reach superspecialty health care and highereducation. Furthermore, when basiceducation and health care isconsidered as a right of the citizens,then it is essential that the governmentshould provide education and healthservices free of cost for the deservingcitizens and those from the sociallyoppressed classes. Both, the union andstate governments, have been steppingup expenditures in the educationsector over the years in order to fulfilthe objective of attaining cent per centliteracy and considerably increase theaverage educational attainment ofIndians.

things before the government. Thepercentage of ‘education expenditureof GDP’ expresses how much ofour income is being committed tothe development of education inthe country. During 1952-2014,education expenditure as percentageof total government expenditureincreased from 7.92 to 15.7 and aspercentage of GDP increased from0.64 to 4.13. Throughout this periodthe increase in education expenditurehas not been uniform and there hasbeen irregular rise and fall. To this ifwe include the private expenditureincurred by individuals and byphilanthropic institutions, the totaleducation expenditure should bemuch higher.

Elementary education takes a majorshare of total education expenditureand the share of the higher/tertiaryeducation (institutions of higherlearning like colleges, polytechnics anduniversities) is the least. Though, on anaverage, the government spends less ontertiary education, ‘expenditure perstudent’ in tertiary education is higherthan that of elementary. This does notmean that financial resources should betransferred from tertiary education toelementary education. As we expandschool education, we need moreteachers who are trained in the highereducational institutions; therefore,expenditure on all levels of educationshould be increased.

In 2014-15, the per capita publicexpenditure on elementary educationdiffers considerably across states fromas high as Rs 34,651 in Himachal

5.6 EDUCATION SECTOR IN INDIA

Growth in Government Expenditureon Education: Do you know howmuch the government spends oneducation? This expenditure by thegovernment is expressed in two ways(i) as a percentage of ‘total governmentexpenditure’ (ii) as a percentage ofGross Domestic Product (GDP).

The percentage of ‘educationexpenditure of total governmentexpenditure’ indicates the importanceof education in the scheme of

Work This Out

Ø Identify the objectives and

functions of NCERT, UGC,AICTE and ICMR.

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Pradesh to as low as Rs 4088 in Bihar.This leads to differences in educationalopportunities and attainments acrossstates.

One can understand theinadequacy of the expenditure oneducation if we compare it with thedesired level of education expenditureas recommended by the variouscommissions. About 50 years ago, theEducation Commission (1964–66) hadrecommended that at least 6 per centof GDP be spent on education so as tomake a noticeable rate of growth in

educational achievements.The Tapas MajumdarCommittee, appointed by theGovernment of India in 1998,estimated an expenditure ofaround Rs 1.37 lakh croreover 10 years (1998-99 to2006-07) to bring all Indianchildren in the age group of6-14 years under thepurview of school education.Compared to this desiredlevel of education expenditureof around 6 per cent of GDP,

the current level of a little over 4 percent has been quite inadequate. Inprinciple, a goal of 6 per cent needs tobe reached—this has been accepted asa must for the coming years. In 2009,the Government of India enacted theRight of Education Act to make freeeducation a fundamental right of allchildren in the age group of 6-14 years.

Government of India has alsostarted levying a 2 per cent ‘educationcess’ on all Union taxes. The revenuesfrom education cess has beenearmarked for spending on elementary

Fig. 5.5 Investment in educational infrastructure is inevitable

Work These Out

Ø Prepare case studies of dropouts at different levels of schooling, say

(i) Primary dropouts

(ii) Class VIII dropouts

(iii) Class X dropouts

Find out the causes and discuss in the class.

Ø ‘School dropouts are giving way to child labour’. Discuss how this is a lossto human capital.

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TABLE 5.2

Educational Attainment in India

Sl.No. Particulars 1990 2000 2015

1. Adult Literacy Rate (per cent of people aged 15+)

1.1 Male 61.9 68.4 81

1.2 Female 37.9 45.4 63

2. Primary completion rate (per cent of relevant age group)

2.1 Male 78 85 942.2 Female 61 69 99

3. Youth literacy rate (per cent of people aged 15+ to 24)

3.1 Male 76.6 79.7 923.2 Female 54.2 64.8 87

education. In addition to this, thegovernment sanctions a large outlay forthe promotion of higher education andnew loan schemes for students topursue higher education.

Educational Achievements in India:

Generally, educational achievementsin a country are indicated in termsof adult literacy level, primaryeducation completion rate and youthliteracy rate. These statistics for the

last two decades are given above inTable 5.2.

5.7 FUTURE PROSPECTS

Education for All — Still a DistantDream: Though literacy rates for both— adults as well as youth — haveincreased, still the absolute number ofilliterates in India is as much as India’spopulation was at the time ofindependence. In 1950, when theConstitution of India was passed by theConstituent Assembly, it was noted in

Fig. 5.6 School dropouts give way to child labour: a loss to human capital

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the Directive Principles of theConstitution that the governmentshould provide free and compulsoryeducation for all children up to the ageof 14 years within 10 years from thecommencement of the Constitution.Had we achieved this, we would havecent per cent literacy by now.

Gender Equity — Better than Before:The differences in literacy rates betweenmales and females are narrowingsignifying a positive development ingender equity; still the need to promoteeducation for women in India isimminent for various reasons such asimproving economic independence andsocial status of women and alsobecause women education makes afavourable impact on fertility rate andhealth care of women and children.Therefore, we cannot be complacentabout the upward movement in theliteracy rates and we have miles to goin achieving cent per cent adult literacy.

education level. Moreover, the level ofunemployment among educated youthis the highest. As per NSSO data, in theyear 2011-12, the rate ofunemployment among youth males whostudied graduation and above in ruralareas was 19 per cent. Their urbancounterparts had relatively less level ofunemployment at 16 per cent. The mostseverely affected ones were young ruralfemale graduates as nearly 30 per centof them are unemployed. In contrast tothis, only about 3-6 per cent of primarylevel educated youth in rural and urbanareas were unemployed. Therefore, thegovernment should increase allocationfor higher education and also improvethe standard of higher educationinstitutions, so that students areimparted employable skills in suchinstitutions. When compared to lesseducated, a large proportion of educatedpersons are unemployed. Why?

5.8 CONCLUSION

The economic and social benefits ofhuman capital formation and humandevelopment are well known. Theunion and state governments in Indiahave been earmarking substantialfinancial outlays for development ofeducation and health sectors. Thespread of education and health servicesacross different sectors of societyshould be ensured so as tosimultaneously attain economic growthand equity. India has a rich stock ofscientific and technical manpower in theworld. The need of the hour is to betterit qualitatively and provide suchconditions so that they are utilised inour own country.

Fig. 5.7 Higher Education: few takers

Higher Education — a Few Takers:The Indian education pyramid issteep, indicating lesser and lessernumber of people reaching the higher

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1. What are the two major sources of human capital in a country?

2. What are the indicators of educational achievement in a country?

3. Why do we observe regional differences in educational attainmentin India?

4. Bring out the differences between human capital and humandevelopment.

5. How is human development a broader term as compared to humancapital?

6. What factors contribute to human capital formation?

Recap

Ø Investments in education convert human beings into human capital; human

capital represents enhanced labour productivity, which is an acquired abilityand an outcome of deliberate investment decisions with an expectation thatit will increase future income sources.

Ø Investments in education, on-the-job training, health, migration and

information are the sources of human capital formation.

Ø The concept of physical capital is the base for conceptualising human capital.

There are some similarities as well as dissimilarities between the two formsof capital formation.

Ø Investment in human capital formation is considered as efficient and growth

enhancing.

Ø Human development is based on the idea that education and health are

integral to human well-being because only when people have the ability toread and write and the ability to lead a long and healthy life, will they beable to make other choices which they value.

Ø The percentage of expenditure on education of the total government

expenditure indicates the importance of education in the scheme of thingsfor the government.

EXERCISES

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7. How government organisations facilitate the functioning of schoolsand hospitals in India?

8. Education is considered to be an important input for the developmentof a nation. How?

9. Discuss the following as a source of human capital formation

(i) Health infrastructure

(ii) Expenditure on migration.

10. Establish the need for acquiring information relating to health andeducation expenditure for the effective utilisation of humanresources.

11. How does investment in human capital contribute to growth?

12. ‘There is a downward trend in inequality world-wide with a rise inthe average education levels’. Comment.

13. Examine the role of education in the economic development of anation.

14. Explain how investment in education stimulates economic growth.

15. Bring out the need for on-the-job-training for a person.

16. Trace the relationship between human capital and economic growth.

17. Discuss the need for promoting women’s education in India.

18. Argue in favour of the need for different forms of governmentintervention in education and health sectors.

19. What are the main problems of human capital formation in India?

20. In your view, is it essential for the government to regulate the feestructure in education and health care institutions? If so, why?

1. Identify how Human Development Index is calculated. What is theposition of India in the World Human Development Index?

2. Is India going to be a knowledge based economy in the near future?Discuss in the classroom.

3. Interpret the data given in Table 5.2.

4. As an educated person, what will be your contribution to the causeof education? (Example ‘Each one — teach one’).


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5. Enlist the various sources that provide information regardingeducation, health and labour.

6. Read the annual reports of Union Ministries of Human ResourceDevelopment and Health and make summaries. Read the chapteron social sector in the Economic Survey .

Books

BECKER, GARY S. 1964. Human Capital. 2nd Edition, Columbia UniversityPress, New York.

FREEMAN, RICHARD. 1976. The Overeducated American. Academic Press,New York.

SIDDHARTHAN, N.S. AND K. NARAYANAN (Eds.). 2013. Human Capital and Development

— The Indian Experience. Springer, New Delhi.

Government Reports

India Human Development Report 2011: Towards Social Inclusion, PlanningCommission, Government of India.

Educational Statistics At a glance, Ministry of Human Resource Development,(for various years), Government of India.

Annual Reports, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Governmentof India.

Websites

http://epathshala.nic.inwww.education.nic.inwww.cbse.nic.inwww.ugc.ac.inwww.aicte.ernet.inwww.ncert.nic.inwww.finmin.nic.inwww.mospi.nic.inhttp://nroer.gov.in

REFERENCES

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99RURAL DEVELOPMENT


• understand rural development and the major issues associated with it

• appreciate how crucial the development of rural areas is for India’s overalldevelopment

• understand the critical role of credit and marketing systems in ruraldevelopment

• learn about the importance of diversification of productive activities tosustain livelihoods

• understand the significance of organic farming in sustainabledevelopment.

RURAL

DEVELOPMENT

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6.1 INTRODUCTION

In Chapter 4, we studied how povertywas a major challenge facing India. Wealso came to know that the majorityof the poor live in rural areas wherethey do not have access to the basicnecessities of life.

Agriculture is the major source oflivelihood in the rural sector. MahatmaGandhi once said that the real progressof India did not mean simply the growthand expansion of industrial urbancentres but mainly the development ofthe villages. This idea of villagedevelopment being at the centre of theoverall development of the nation isrelevant even today. Why is this so?Why should we attach such significanceto rural development when we seearound us fast growing cities with largeindustries and modern informationtechnology hubs? It is because morethan two-third of India’s populationdepends on agriculture that is yet tobecome productive enough to providefor them; one-third of rural India stilllives in abject poverty. That is thereason why we have to see a developedrural India if our nation has to realisereal progress. What, then, does ruraldevelopment imply?

6.2 WHAT IS RURAL DEVELOPMENT?

Rural development is a comprehensiveterm. It essentially focuses on action forthe development of areas that are

lagging behind in the overalldevelopment of the village economy.Some of the areas which arechallenging and need fresh initiativesfor development in rural India include• Development of human resources

including– literacy, more specifically, female

literacy, education and skilldevelopment

– health, addressing both sanitationand public health

• Land reforms• Development of the productive

resources of each locality• Infrastructure development like

electricity, irrigation, credit,marketing, transport facilitiesincluding construction of villageroads and feeder roads to nearbyhighways, facilities for agricultureresearch and extension, andinformation dissemination

• Special measures for alleviationof poverty and bringing aboutsignificant improvement in the livingconditions of the weaker sectionsof the population emphasisingaccess to productive employmentopportunitiesAll this means that people engaged

in farm and non-farm activities inrural areas have to be provided withvarious means that help them increasethe productivity. They also need to begiven opportunities to diversifyinto various non-farm productive

“Only the tillers of the soil live by the right. The rest form their train and eatonly the bread of dependence”.

Thiruvalluvar

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101RURAL DEVELOPMENT

activities such as food processing.Enabling them better and moreaffordable access to healthcare,sanitation facilities at workplaces andhomes and education for all would alsoneed to be given top priority for rapidrural development.

It was observed in an earlier chapterthat although the share of agriculturesector’s contribution to GDP was on adecline, the population dependent onthis sector did not show any significantchange. Further, after the initiation ofreforms, the growth rate of agriculturesector decelerated to about 3 per centper annum during the 1991-2012,which was lower than the earlier years.Scholars identify decline in publicinvestment since 1991 as the majorreason for this. They also argue thatinadequate infrastructure, lack ofalternate employment opportunities inthe industry or service sector,increasing casualisation of employmentetc., further impede rural development.

The impact of this phenomenon can beseen from the growing distresswitnessed among farmers acrossdifferent parts of India. During 2007-12, agriculture output has grown at3.2 per cent. Against this background,we will critically look at some of thecrucial aspects of rural India like creditand marketing systems, agriculturaldiversification and the role of organicfarming in promoting sustainabledevelopment.

6.3 CREDIT AND MARKETING IN RURAL

AREAS

Credit: Growth of rural economydepends primarily on infusion ofcapital, from time to time, to realisehigher productivity in agriculture andnon-agriculture sectors. As the timegestation between crop sowing andrealisation of income after production isquite long, farmers borrow from varioussources to meet their initial investmenton seeds, fertilisers, implements andother family expenses of marriage,death, religious ceremonies etc.

At the time of independence,moneylenders and traders exploitedsmall and marginal farmers andlandless labourers by lending to themon high interest rates and bymanipulating the accounts to keepthem in a debt-trap. A major changeoccurred after 1969 when Indiaadopted social banking and multi-agency approach to adequately meetthe needs of rural credit. Later, theNational Bank for Agriculture andRural Development (NABARD) was setup in 1982 as an apex body to

Work These Out

On a monthly basis, go through

the newspapers of your regionand identify the problems raisedby them in relation to rural areasand the solutions offered. Youcould also visit a nearby villageand identify the problems facedby people there. Discuss this inthe classroom.

Prepare a list of recent schemes

and their objectives from thegovernment website http://www.rural.nic.in

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Box 6.1: The Poor Women’s Bank

‘Kudumbashree’ is a women-oriented community-based poverty reductionprogramme being implemented in Kerala. In 1995, a thrift and credit societywas started as a small savings bank for poor women with the objective toencourage savings. The thrift and credit society mobilised Rs 1 crore as thriftsavings. These societies have been acclaimed as the largest informal banks inAsia in terms of participation and savings mobilised.

Source: www.kudumbashree.com. Visit this website and explore various other

initiatives undertaken by this organisation. Can you identify some factors

which contributed to their successes?

coordinate the activities of allinstitutions involved in the ruralfinancing system. The GreenRevolution was a harbinger of majorchanges in the credit system as it led tothe diversification of the portfolio ofrural credit towards production-oriented lending.

The institutional structure of ruralbanking today consists of a set ofmulti-agency institutions, namely,commercial banks, regional ruralbanks (RRBs), cooperatives and landdevelopment banks. They are expectedto dispense adequate credit at cheaperrates. Recently, Self-Help Groups(henceforth SHGs) have emerged to fill

the gap in the formal credit systembecause the formal credit deliverymechanism has not only proveninadequate but has also not been fullyintegrated into the overall rural socialand community development. Sincesome kind of collateral is required, vastproportion of poor rural householdswere automatically out of the creditnetwork. The SHGs promote thrift insmall proportions by a minimumcontribution from each member. Fromthe pooled money, credit is given to theneedy members to be repayable insmall instalments at reasonable interestrates. By March end 2003, more thanseven lakh SHGs had reportedly been

Work These Out

In your locality/neighbourhood, you might notice self-help groups providing

credit. Attend few meetings of such self-help groups. Write a report on theprofile of a self-help group. The profile may include — when it was started,the number of members, amount of savings and type of credit they provideand how borrowers use the loan.

You might also find that those who take a loan for starting self-employment

activities but use it for other purposes. Interact with few such borrowers.Identify the reasons for not starting self employment activities and discussin the classroom.

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credit linked. Such credit provisions aregenerally referred to as micro-creditprogrammes. SHGs have helped in theempowerment of women. It is allegedthat the borrowings are mainly confinedto consumption purposes. Why areborrowers not spending for productivepurposes?

Rural Banking — a CriticalAppraisal: Rapid expansion of thebanking system had a positive effect onrural farm and non-farm output,income and employment, especiallyafter the green revolution — it helpedfarmers to avail services and creditfacilities and a variety of loans formeeting their prodution needs. Faminesbecame events of the past; we have nowachieved food security which is reflectedin the abundant buffer stocks of grains.However, all is not well with ourbanking system.

With the possible exception of thecommercial banks, other formalinstitutions have failed to develop aculture of deposit mobilisation —lending to worthwhile borrowers andeffective loan recovery. Agricultureloan default rates have beenchronically high. Why farmers failedto pay back loans? It is alleged thatfarmers are deliberately refusing topay back loans. What could be thereasons?

Thus, the expansion and promotionof the rural banking sector has taken abackseat after reforms. To improve thesituation, it is suggested that banksneed to change their approach fromjust being lenders to building uprelationship banking with theborrowers. Inculcating the habit ofthrift and efficient utilisation of financialresources needs to be enhanced amongthe farmers too.

Work These Out

In the last few years, you might have taken note — in your neighbourhood

if you are living in rural areas or read in the newspapers or seen on TV — offarmers commiting suicides. Many such farmers had borrowed money forfarming and other purposes. It was found that when they were unable topay back due to crop failure, insufficient income and employmentopportunities, they took such steps. Collect information relating to suchcases and discuss in the classroom.

Visit banks that cater to rural areas. They may be primary agricultural

cooperative banks, land development banks, regional rural banks or districtcooperative banks. Collect details such as how many rural householdsborrowed from them, amount generally borrowed, kinds of collateral used,interest rates and dues.

If farmers who borrowed from cooperative banks could not pay back due to

crop failure and other reasons, their loans should be waived otherwise theymay take drastic decisions like committing suicides. Do you agree?

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6.4 AGRICULTURAL MARKET SYSTEM

Have you ever asked yourself how foodgrains, vegetables and fruits that weconsume daily come from different partsof the country? The mechanismthrough which these goods reachdifferent places depends on the marketchannels. Agricultural marketing is aprocess that involves the assembling,storage, processing, transportation,packaging, grading and distribution ofdifferent agricultural commoditiesacross the country.

Prior to independence, farmers,while selling their produce to traders,suffered from faulty weighing andmanipulation of accounts. Farmerswho did not have the requiredinformation on prices prevailing inmarkets were often forced to sell at lowprices. They also did not have properstorage facilities to keep back theirproduce for selling later at a better

price. Do you know that even today,more than 10 per cent of goodsproduced in farms are wasted due to

lack of storage? Therefore, stateintervention became necessary toregulate the activities of the private

traders.Let us discuss four such measures

that were initiated to improve the

marketing aspect. The first step wasregulation of markets to create orderlyand transparent marketing conditions.

By and large, this policy benefitedfarmers as well as consumers. However,there is still a need to develop about

27,000 rural periodic markets asregulated market places to realise thefull potential of rural markets. Second

component is provision of physicalinfrastructure facilities like roads,railways, warehouses, godowns, cold

storages and processing units. Thecurrent infrastructure facilities are quiteinadequate to meet the growing demand

and need to be improved. Cooperativemarketing, in realising fair prices for

farmers’ products, is the third aspect of

government initiative. The success ofmilk cooperatives in transforming the

Fig. 6.1 Regulated market yards benefit farmers as well as consumers

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social and economic landscape of

Gujarat and some other parts of the

country is testimony to the role of

cooperatives. However cooperatives have

received a setback during the recent past

due to inadequate coverage of farmer

members, lack of appropriate link

between marketing and processing

cooperatives and inefficient financial

management. The fourth element is the

policy instruments like (i) assurance of

minimum support prices (MSP) for

agricultural products (ii) maintenance

of buffer stocks of wheat and rice

by Food Corporation of India and

(iii) distribution of food grains and sugar

through PDS. These instruments are

aimed at protecting the income of the

farmers and providing foodgrains at a

subsidised rate to the poor. However,

despite government intervention, private

trade (by moneylenders, rural political

elites, big merchants and rich farmers)

predominates agricultural markets. The

need for government intervention is

imminent particularly when a large

share of agricultural products, is

handled by the private sector.

Agricultural marketing has comea long way with the intervention of thegovernment in various forms. Somescholars argue that commercialisationof agriculture offers tremendous scopefor farmers to earn higher incomesprovided the government interventionis restricted. What do you think aboutthis view?

Emerging Alternate MarketingChannels: It has been realised that iffarmers directly sell their produce toconsumers, it increases their incomes.Some examples of these channels areApni Mandi (Punjab, Haryana andRajasthan); Hadaspar Mandi (Pune);Rythu Bazars (vegetable and fruitmarkets in Andhra Pradesh andTelangana) and Uzhavar Sandies

(farmers markets in Tamil Nadu).Further, several national andmultinational fast food chains areincreasingly entering into contracts/alliances with farmers to encouragethem to cultivate farm products(vegetables, fruits, etc.) of the desiredquality by providing them with not onlyseeds and other inputs but also assured

Work These Out

Visit a nearby vegetable and fruit market. Observe and identify different

characteristics of the market. Identify the place of origin of at least tendifferent fruits and vegetables and distance travelled to reach the market.Further, look at the modes of transport and its implication on prices.

Most small towns have regulated market yards. Farmers can go to these

markets and sell their produce. They can also store their goods in the yard.Visit one regulated market yard; collect the details of its functioning, kindof goods coming to the yard and how prices are fixed.

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procurement of the produce at pre-decided prices. It is argued that sucharrangements will help in reducing theprice risks of farmers and would alsoexpand the markets for farm products.Do you think such arrangements raiseincomes of small farmers.

season, in areas where there areinadequate irrigation facilities, itbecomes difficult to find gainfulemployment. Therefore expansioninto other sectors is essential toprovide supplementary gainfulemployment and in realising higherlevels of income for rural people toovercome poverty and othertribulations. Hence, there is a need tofocus on allied activities, non-farmemployment and other emergingalternatives of livelihood, thoughthere are many other options availablefor providing sustainable livelihoodsin rural areas.

As agriculture is alreadyovercrowded, a major proportion of theincreasing labour force needs to findalternate employment opportunities inother non-farm sectors. Non-farmeconomy has several segments in it;6.5 DIVERSIFICATION INTO PRODUCTIVE

ACTIVITIES

Diversification includes two aspects -one relates to change in croppingpattern and the other relates to a shiftof workforce from agriculture to otherallied activities (livestock, poultry,fisheries etc.) and non-agriculturesector. The need for diversificationarises from the fact that there isgreater risk in depending exclusivelyon farming for l ivelihood.Diversification towards new areas isnecessary not only to reduce the riskfrom agriculture sector but also toprovide productive sustainablelivelihood options to rural people.Much of the agricultural employmentactivities are concentrated in theKharif season. But during the Rabi

Work This Out

Visit one such alternative

marketing system which farmersin your locality, or in theneighbourhood rural areas, use.How are they different fromregulated market yards? Shouldthey be encouraged and supportedby the government? Why and how?Discuss.

Fig. 6.2 Jaggery making is an allied activityof the farming sector

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some possess dynamic linkages thatpermit healthy growth while others arein subsistence, low productivitypropositions. The dynamic sub-sectorsinclude agro-processing industries,food processing industries, leatherindustry, tourism, etc. Those sectorswhich have the potential but seriouslylack infrastructure and other supportinclude traditional home-basedindustries like pottery, crafts,handlooms etc. Majority of ruralwomen find employment in agriculturewhile men generallylook for non-farmemployment. In recenttimes, women havealso begun lookingfor non-farm jobs (seeBox 6.2).

Animal Husbandry: InIndia, the farmingcommunity uses themixed crop-livestockfarming system —cattle, goats, fowlare the widely heldspecies. Livestock

production provides increased stabilityin income, food security, transport, fueland nutrition for the family withoutdisrupting other food-producingactivities. Today, livestock sector aloneprovides alternate livelihood options toover 70 million small and marginalfarmers including landless labourers. Asignificant number of women also findemployment in the livestock sector.

Chart 6.1 shows the distribution oflivestock in India. Poultry accounts forthe largest share with 58 per cent

Box 6.2: Tamil Nadu Women in Agriculture (TANWA)

Tamil Nadu Women in Agriculture (TANWA) is a project initiated in Tamil Naduto train women in latest agricultural techniques. It induces women to activelyparticipate in raising agricultural productivity and family income. At a FarmWomen’s Group in Thiruchirapalli, run by Anthoniammal, trained women aresuccessfully making and selling vermicompost and earning money from thisventure. Many other Farm Women’s Groups are creating savings in their groupby functioning like mini banks through a micro-credit system. With theaccumulated savings, they promote small-scale household activities likemushroom cultivation, soap manufacture, doll making or other income-generating activities.

Chart 6.1: Distribution of Poultry andLivestock in India, 2012

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followed by others. Other animals whichinclude camels, asses, horses, ponies

and mules are in the lowest rung. India

had about 300 million cattle, including

108 million buffaloes, in 2012.

Performance of the Indian dairy sector

over the last three decades has been

quite impressive. Milk production in

the country has increased by more than

eight times between 1951-2014. This

can be attributed mainly to the

successful implementation of

‘Operation Flood’. It is a system

whereby all the farmers can pool their

milk produced according to different

grading (based on quality) and the

same is processed and marketed to

urban centres through cooperatives. In

this system the farmers are assured of

a fair price and income from the supply

of milk to urban markets. As pointed

out earlier Gujarat state is held as a

success story in the efficient

implementation of milk cooperatives

which has been emulated by many

states. Meat, eggs, wool and other by-

products are also emerging as

important productive sectors for

diversification.

Fisheries: The fishing community

regards the water body as ‘mother’ or

‘provider’. The water bodies consisting

of sea, oceans, rivers, lakes, natural

aquatic ponds, streams etc. are,

therefore, an integral and life-giving

source for the fishing community. In

India, after progressive increase in

budgetary allocations and introduction

of new technologies in fisheries and

aquaculture, the development of

fisheries has come a long way.

Presently, fish production from inland

sources contributes about 64 per cent

to the total value of fish production and

the balance 36 per cent comes from the

marine sector (sea and oceans). Today

total fish production accounts for

0.8 per cent of the total GDP. In India,

West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala,

Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu

are major fish producing states. A large

share of fishworker families are poor.

Rampant underemployment, low per

capita earnings, absence of mobility of

labour to other sectors and a high rate

of illiteracy and indebtedness are some

of the major problems fishing

community face today. Even though

women are not involved in active

fishing, about 60 per cent of the

workforce in export marketing and 40

per cent in internal marketing are

women. There is a need to increase

credit facilities through cooperatives

and SHGs for fisherwomen to meet the

Fig. 6.3 Sheep rearing — an important incomeaugmenting activity in rural areas

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working capital requirements for

marketing.

Horticulture: Blessed with a varyingclimate and soil conditions, India hasadopted growing of diverse horti-cultural crops such as fruits,vegetables, tuber crops, flowers,medicinal and aromatic plants, spicesand plantation crops. These crops playa vital role in providing foodand nutrition, besides addressingemployment concerns. Horticulturesector contributes nearly one-third ofthe value of agriculture output and sixper cent of Gross Domestic Product ofIndia. India has emerged as a worldleader in producing a variety of fruitslike mangoes, bananas, coconuts,cashew nuts and a number of spicesand is the second largest producer offruits and vegetables. Economiccondition of many farmers engaged inhorticulture has improved and it hasbecome a means of improving livelihoodfor many unprivileged classes. Flower

harvesting, nursery maintenance,hybrid seed production and tissueculture, propagation of fruits andflowers and food processing are highlyremunerative employment options forwomen in rural areas.

Though, in terms of numbers, ourlivestock population is quite impressivebut its productivity is quite low ascompared to other countries. It requires

improved technology andpromotion of goodbreeds of animals toenhance productivity.Improved veterinary careand credit facilities tosmall and marginalfarmers and landlesslabourers would enhancesustainable livelihoodoptions through livestockproduction. Productionof fisheries has alreadyincreased substantially.

However problemsrelated to over- fishing andFig. 6.4 Poultry has the largest share of total livestock in India

Fig. 6.5 Women in rural households take up bee-keeping as an entrepreneurial activity

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pollution need to be regulated andcontrolled. Welfare programmes for thefishing community have to be reorientedin a manner which can provide long-termgains and sustenance of livelihoods.Horticulture has emerged as a successfulsustainable livelihood option and needsto be encouraged significantly.Enhancing its role requires investmentin infrastructure like electricity, coldstorage systems, marketing linkages,small-scale processing units andtechnology improvement anddissemination.

Other Alternate Livelihood Options:The IT has revolutionised many sectorsin the Indian economy. There is broadconsensus that IT can play a criticalrole in achieving sustainabledevelopment and food security in thetwenty-first century. Governments canpredict areas of food insecurity andvulnerability using appropriateinformation and software tools so thataction can be taken to prevent orreduce the likelihood of an emergency.

It also has a positive impact on the

agriculture sector as it can disseminateinformation regarding emerging

technologies and its applications,prices, weather and soil conditions for

growing different crops etc. Though IT

is, by itself, no catalyst of change but

it can act as a tool for releasing thecreative potential and knowledge

embedded in the society. It also has

potential of employment generation in

rural areas. Experiments with IT andits application to rural development are

carried out in different parts of India

(see Box 6.3).

6.6 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND

ORGANIC FARMING

In recent years, awareness of the

harmful effect of chemical-based

fertilisers and pesticides on our healthis on a rise. Conventional agriculture

relies heavily on chemical fertilisers

and toxic pesticides etc., which enterthe food supply, penetrate the water

sources, harm the livestock, deplete the

soil and devastate natural eco-systems.

Efforts in evolving technologies whichare eco-friendly are essential for

sustainable development and one

such technology which is eco-friendly

is organic farming. In short, organic

Box 6.3: Adoption of Village by Parliamentarians

In October, 2014, The Government of India introduced a new scheme calledSaansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY). Under this scheme, Members of India'sParliament need to identify and develop one village from their constituencies. Tobegin with, MPs can develop one village as a model village by 2016, and two moreby 2019, covering over 2,500 villages in India. According to the scheme, the villagecan have a population of 3,000-5,000 in the plains and 1,000-3,000 in the hillsand should not be MPs' own or their spouse's village. MPs are expected to facilitatea village development plan, motivate villagers to take up activities and builtinfrastructure in the areas of health, nutrition and education.

Source: www.pib.nic.in accessed on 24 October 2014

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agriculture is a whole system offarming that restores, maintains and

enhances the ecological balance. There

is an increasing demand for

organically grown food to enhancefood safety throughout the world (see

Box 6.4).

Benefits of Organic Farming: Organic

agriculture offers a means to substitutecostlier agricultural inputs (such as

HYV seeds, chemical fertilisers,

pesticides etc.) with locally producedorganic inputs that are cheaper and

thereby generate good returns oninvestment. Organic agriculture alsogenerates income through exports as

the demand for organically grown crops

is on a rise. Studies across countries

have shown that organically grown foodhas more nutritional value thanchemical farming thus providing us

with healthy foods. Since organicfarming requires more labour inputthan conventional farming, India will

find organic farming an attractiveproposition. Finally, the produce ispesticide-free and produced in an

environmentally sustainable way (see

Box 6.5).Popularising organic farming

requires awareness and willingness on

the part of farmers to adapt to new

technology. Inadequate infrastructureand the problem of marketing the

products are major concerns which

Box 6.4: Organic Food

Organic food is growing in popularity across the world. Many countries havearound 10 per cent of their food system under organic farming. There aremany retail chains and supermarkets which are accorded with green statusto sell organic food. Moreover, organic foods command higher price of around10-100 per cent than conventional ones.

Box 6.5: Organically Produced Cotton in Maharashtra

In 1995, when Kisan Mehta of Prakruti (an NGO) first suggested that cotton,the biggest user of chemical pesticides, could be grown organically, the thenDirector of the Central Institute for Cotton Research, Nagpur, famouslyremarked, “Do you want India to go naked?” At present, as many as 130farmers have committed 1,200 hectares of land to grow cotton organically onthe International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement’s standards.The produce was later tested by the German Accredited Agency, AGRECO,and found to be of high quality. Kisan Mehta feels that about 78 per cent ofIndian farmers are marginal farmers owning about less than 0.8 hectare butaccounting for 20 per cent of India’s cultivable land. For such farmers, organicagriculture is more profitable in terms of money and soil conservation in thelong run.

Source: Lyla Bavadam, A Green Alternative, Frontline, 29 July 2005.

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need to be addressed apart from an

appropriate agriculture policy topromote organic farming. It has been

observed that the yields from organic

farming are less than modern

agricultural farming in the initial years.Therefore, small and marginal farmers

may find it difficult to adapt to large-

scale production. Organic produce may

also have more blemishes and a shortershelf life than sprayed produce.

Moreover choice in production of

off-season crops is quite limited in

organic farming. Nevertheless, organicfarming helps in sustainable

development of agriculture and India

has a clear advantage in producing

organic products for both domestic andinternational markets. Do you think

food and non-food items cultivated

using organic farming methods will be

cheaper?

6.7 CONCLUSION

It is clear that until and unless some

spectacular changes occur, the rural

sector might continue to remainbackward. There is a greater need

today to make rural areas more

vibrant through diversification into

dairying, poultry, f isheries,vegetables and fruits and linking up

the rural production centres with the

urban and foreign (export) markets

to realise higher returns on theinvestments for the products.

Moreover, infrastructure elements

like credit and marketing, farmer-

friendly agricultural policies and aconstant appraisal and dialogue

between farmers’ groups and state

agricultural departments are

essential to realise the full potentialof the sector.

Today we cannot look at the

environment and rural development as

two distinct subjects. There is need toinvent or procure alternate sets of eco-

friendly technologies that lead to

sustainable development in different

Work These Out

Make a list of five popular items that are organically produced in India.

Visit a nearby super market, vegetable shop and/or a departmental shop.

Identify a few products. Prepare a chart comparing a few goods that areproduced organically and in the normal way on the basis of their prices,shelf life, quality and the kind of advertisement through which they arepopularised.

Visit a horticultural farm in the nearby locality. Collect the details of

goods that they cultivate on the farm. They could have diversified theircropping patterns. Discuss with them the merits and demerits of thediversification.

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circumstances. From these, each ruralcommunity can choose whatever willsuit its purpose. First of all, then, we

need to learn from, and also try outwhen found relevant, practices fromthe available set of ‘best practice’

illustrations (which means successstor ies of rural developmentexperiments that have already beencarried out in similar conditions indifferent parts of India), to speed upthis process of ‘learning by doing’.

1. What do you mean by rural development? Bring out the key issues inrural development.

2. Discuss the importance of credit in rural development.

3. Explain the role of micro-credit in meeting credit requirements of thepoor.

4. Explain the steps taken by the government in developing ruralmarkets.

5. Why is agricultural diversification essential for sustainablelivelihoods?

Recap

Rural development is quite a comprehensive term but it essentially means

a plan of action for the development of rural areas which are laggingbehind in socio-economic development.

There is a need for improving the quantity and quality of infrastructure

in rural areas such as banking, marketing, storage, transport andcommunications etc. to realise its true potential.

Diversification towards new areas such as livestock, fisheries and other

non-agricultural activities is necessary not only to reduce the risk fromagriculture sector but also to provide productive sustainable livelihoodoptions to our rural people.

The importance of organic farming as an environmentally sustainable

production process is on a rise and needs to be promoted.

EXERCISES

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6. Critically evaluate the role of the rural banking system in the processof rural development in India.

7. What do you mean by agricultural marketing?

8. Mention some obstacles that hinder the mechanism of agriculturalmarketing.

9. What are the alternative channels available for agriculturalmarketing? Give some examples.

10. Distinguish between ‘Green Revolution’ and ‘Golden Revolution’.

11. Do you think various measures taken by the government to improveagricultural marketing are sufficient? Discuss.

12. Explain the role of non-farm employment in promoting ruraldiversification.

13. Bring out the importance of animal husbandry, fisheries andhorticulture as a source of diversification.

14. ‘Information technology plays a very significant role in achievingsustainable development and food security’ — comment.

15. What is organic farming and how does it promote sustainabledevelopment?

16. Identify the benefits and limitations of organic farming.

17. Enlist some problems faced by farmers during the initial years oforganic farming.

ACHARYA, S.S. 2004. Agricultural Marketing, State of the Indian Farmer, a

Millennium Study. Academic Foundation, New Delhi.

ALAGH, Y.K. 2004. State of the Indian Farmer, a Millennium Study — an Overview.

Academic Foundation, New Delhi.

CHAWLA, N.K., M.P.G. KURUP and V. P. SHARMA. 2004. Animal Husbandry, State of

the Indian Farmer, a Millennium Study. Academic Foundation, New Delhi.

DEHADRAI, P.V. and Y.S. YADAV. 2004. Fisheries Development, State of the Indian

Farmer, a Millennium Study. Academic Foundation, New Delhi.

JALAN, BIMAL. (Ed.). 1992. The Indian Economy: Problems and Perspectives.

Penguin Publication, New Delhi.

REFERENCES

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NARAYANAN, S. 2005. Organic Farming in India. NABARD Occasional Paper No:

38, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mumbai.

SINGH, H.P., P.P. DUTTA and M. SUDHA. 2004. Horticulture Development, State of

the Indian Farmer, a Millennium Study. Academic Foundation, New Delhi.

SINGH, SURJIT and VIDYA SAGAR. 2004. Agricultural Credit in India: State of the

Indian Farmer, a Millennium Study. Academic Foundation, New Delhi.

SINHA, V.K. 1998. Challenges in Rural Development. Discovery PublishingHouse, New Delhi.

TODARO, MICHAEL P. 1987. Economic Development in the Third World. OrientLongman Ltd, Hyderabad.

TOPPO, E. 2004. Organic Vegetable Gardening: Grow Your Own Vegetables. Unitfor Labour Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

Government Reports

Successful Governance Initiatives and Best Practices: Experiences from Indian

States, Government of India in Coordination with Human ResourceDevelopment Centre and UNDP, Planning Commission, Delhi, 2002.

Annual Reports, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, NewDelhi.

Basic Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Statistics ( for various years), Ministryof Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India.

Website

www.dahd.nic.in

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• understand a few basic concepts relating to employment such aseconomic activity, worker, workforce and unemployment

• understand the nature of participation of men and women in variouseconomic activities in various sectors

• know the nature and extent of unemployment

• assess the initiatives taken by the government in generating employmentopportunities in various sectors and regions.

EMPLOYMENT : GROWTH,INFORMALISATION

AND OTHER ISSUES

7

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117EMPLOYMENT : GROWTH, INFORMALISATION AND OTHER ISSUES

7.1 INTRODUCTION

People do a variety of work.Some work on farms, infactories, banks, shops andmany other workplaces; yet afew others work at home. Workat home includes not onlytraditional work like weaving,lace making or variety ofhandicrafts but also modernjobs like programming work inthe IT industry. Earlier factorywork meant working infactories located in citieswhereas now technology hasenabled people to produce thosefactory-based goods at home invillages.

Why do people work? Work playsan important role in our lives asindividuals and as members of society.People work for ‘earning’ a living. Somepeople get, or have, money by inheritingit, not working for it. This does notcompletely satisfy anybody. Beingemployed in work gives us a sense ofself-worth and enables us to relateourselves meaningfully with others.Every working person is activelycontributing to national income andhence, the development of the countryby engaging in various economicactivities — that is the real meaning of‘earning’ a living. We do not work only

for ourselves; we also have a sense ofaccomplishment when we work to meetthe requirements of those who aredependent on us. Having recognisedthe importance of work, MahatmaGandhi insisted upon education andtraining through a variety of worksincluding craft.

Studying about working peoplegives us insights into the quality andnature of employment in our countryand helps in understanding andplanning our human resources. It helpsus to analyse the contribution made bydifferent industries and sectors towardsnational income. It also helps us toaddress many social issues such asexploitation of marginalised sections ofthe society, child labour etc.

What I object to, is the ‘craze’ for machinery, not machinery as such. Thecraze is for what they call labour-saving machinery. Men go on ‘saving labour’till thousands are without work and thrown on the open streets to die ofstarvation...

Mahatma Gandhi

Fig. 7.1 Multinational companies sell footballsmade in the houses of Jalandhar, Punjab

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7.2 WORKERS AND EMPLOYMENT

What is employment? Who is a worker?When a farmer works on fields, he orshe produces food grains and rawmaterials for industries. Cottonbecomes cloth in textile mills and inpowerlooms. Lorries transport goodsfrom one place to another. We knowthat the total money value of all suchgoods and services produced in acountry in a year is called its grossdomestic product for that year. Whenwe also consider what we pay for ourimports and get from our exports wefind that there is a net earning for thecountry which may be positive (if wehave exported more in value terms thanimported) or negative (if importsexceeded exports in value terms) or zero(if exports and imports were of the samevalue). When we add this earning (plusor minus) from foreign transactions,what we get is called the country’s grossnational product for that year.

Those activities which contribute tothe gross national product are calledeconomic activities. All those who areengaged in economic activities, inwhatever capacity — high or low, areworkers. Even if some of themtemporarily abstain from work due toillness, injury or other physicaldisability, bad weather, festivals, socialor religious functions, they are alsoworkers. Workers also include all thosewho help the main workers in theseactivities. We generally think of onlythose who are paid by an employer fortheir work as workers. This is not so.Those who are self-employed are alsoworkers.

The nature of employment in Indiais multifaceted. Some get employmentthroughout the year; some others getemployed for only a few months in ayear. Many workers do not get fairwages for their work. While estimatingthe number of workers, all those whoare engaged in economic activities areincluded as employed. You might beinterested in knowing the number ofpeople actively engaged in variouseconomic activities. During 2011-12,India had about a 473 million strongworkforce. Since majority of our peoplereside in rural areas, the proportion ofworkforce residing there is higher. The

Work This Out

Ø In your house or

neighbourhood, you mightcome across many womenwho, even though theyhave technical degreesand diplomas and also freetime to go to work, do notgo to work. Ask them thereasons for not going towork. List all of them anddiscuss in the classroomwhether they should go forwork and why, and alsoways by which they couldbe sent for work. Somesocial scientists argue thathousewives working athome without getting paidfor that work must also beregarded as contributing tothe gross national productand therefore, as engagedin an economic activity.Would you agree?

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rural workers constitute about three-fourth of this 473 million. Men form themajority of workforce in India. About70 per cent of the workers are men andthe rest are women (men and womeninclude child labourers in respectivesexes). Women workers account forone-third of the rural workforcewhereas in urban areas, they are justone-fifth of the workforce. Womencarry out works like cooking, fetchingwater and fuelwood and participate infarm labour. They are not paid wagesin cash or in the form of grains; attimes they are not paid at all. For thisreason, these women are notcategorised as workers. Economistshave argued that these women shouldalso be called workers.

7.3 PARTICIPATION OF PEOPLE IN

EMPLOYMENT

Worker-population ratio is an indicatorwhich is used for analysing theemployment situation in the country.This ratio is useful in knowing theproportion of population that isactively contributing to the productionof goods and services of a country. Ifthe ratio is higher, it means that theengagement of people is greater; if theratio for a country is medium, or low,it means that a very high proportionof its population is not involveddirectly in economic activities.

You might have already studied,in lower classes, the meaning of theterm ‘population’. Population isdefined as the total number of peoplewho reside in a particular locality ata particular point of time. If you want

to know the worker-population ratiofor India, divide the total number ofworkers in India by the population inIndia and multiply it by 100, you willget the worker-population ratio forIndia.

If you look at Table 7.1, it showsthe different levels of participation ofpeople in economic activities. Forevery 100 persons, about 39 (byrounding off 38.6) are workers inIndia. In urban areas, the proportionis about 36 whereas in rural India, theratio is about 40. Why is there such adifference? People in rural areas havelimited resources to earn a higherincome and participate more in theemployment market. Many do not goto schools, colleges and other traininginstitutions. Even if some go, theydiscontinue in the middle to join theworkforce; whereas, in urban areas, aconsiderable section is able to study invarious educational institutions. Urbanpeople have a variety of employmentopportunities. They look for theappropriate job to suit theirqualifications and skills. In rural areas,people cannot stay at home as theireconomic condition may not allow themto do so.

TABLE 7.1

Worker-Population Ratio in India,2011-2012

Sex Worker-Population Ratio

Total Rural Urban

Men 54.4 54.3 54.6

Women 21.9 24.8 14.7

Total 38.6 39.9 35.5

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Compared to females, more malesare found to be working. The differencein participation rates is very large inurban areas: for every 100 urbanfemales, only about 15 are engaged insome economic activities. In rural areas,for every 100 rural women about 25participate in the employment market.Why are women, in general, and urbanwomen, in particular, not working? Itis common to findthat where men areable to earn highincomes, familiesdiscourage femalemembers fromtaking up jobs.

Going back towhat has alreadybeen mentionedabove, many activi-ties for the householdengaged in by womenare not recognised asproductive work.This narrow defini-tion of work leads tonon-recognition of

women’s work and, therefore, to theunderestimation of the number ofwomen workers in the country. Thinkof the women actively engaged in manyactivities within the house and at familyfarms who are not paid for such work.As they certainly contribute to themaintenance of the household andfarms, do you think that their numbershould be added to the number ofwomen workers?

7.4 SELF-EMPLOYED AND HIRED

WORKERS

Does the worker-population ratio sayanything about workers’ status insociety or about the workingconditions? By knowing the statuswith which a worker is placed in anenterprise, it may be possible to knowone dimension — quality of employmentin a country. It also enables us to knowthe attachment a worker has with his

Fig. 7.2 Brick-making: a form of casual work

Work These Out

Ø Any study of employment

must start with a reviewof the worker-populationratios — why?

Ø In some communities, you

might have noticed thateven if the males do notearn a high income, they donot send women to work.Why?

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or her job and the authority she or hehas over the enterprise and over otherco-workers.

Let us take three workers from theconstruction industry — a cement shopowner, a construction worker and a civilengineer of a construction company. Sincethe status of each one of them is differentfrom another, they arealso called differently.Workers who own andoperate an enterprise toearn their livelihoodare known as self-employed. Thus thecement shop owner isself-employed. About 52per cent workforce inIndia belongs to thiscategory. The constructionworkers are known ascasual wage labourers;they account for 30 percent of India’s workforce.

Such labourers arecasually engaged in others’farms and, in return, get aremuneration for the workdone. Workers like the civilengineer working in theconstruction companyaccount for 18 per cent ofIndia’s workforce. When aworker is engaged bysomeone or an enterpriseand paid his or her wageson a regular basis, they areknown as regular salariedemployees.

Look at Chart 7.1:you will notice that self-

employment is a major source oflivelihood for both men and women asthis category accounts for more than50 per cent of the workforce in bothdiagrams. Casual wage work is thesecond major source for both men andwomen, a little more so for the latter

(31 per cent). When it comes to regular

Chart 7.1 : Distribution of Employmentby Gender

Chart 7.2 : Distribution of Employment by Region

Urban Workers Rural Workers

Regular Salaried Employees Self-employed

Casual Wage Labourers

Male Workers Female Workers

Self-employed

Casual Wage Labourers

Regular Salaried Employees

13%

31%51%

20%

29% 56%

43%

15%

42%

35%

56%

9%

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urban areas. In the latter, both self-employment and regular wage salaried

jobs are greater. In the former, since

majority of those depending on farming

own plots of land and cultivateindependently, the share of self-

employed is greater.

The nature of work in urban areas

is different. Obviously everyone cannotrun factories, shops and offices of

various types. Moreover enterprises in

urban areas require workers on a

regular basis.

salaried employment, men are found tobe so engaged in greater proportion.They form 20 per cent whereas women

form only 13 per cent. One of the reasonscould be skill requirement. Since regularsalaried jobs require skills and a higher

level of literacy, women might not havebeen engaged to a great extent.

When we compare the distribution

of workforce in rural and urban areasin Chart 7.2 you will notice that the self-employed and casual wage labourers

are found more in rural areas than in

Work These Out

Ø We generally think that only those who are doing paid work regularly or

casually such as agricultural labourers, factory workers, those who workin banks and other offices as assistants and clerks are workers. From theabove discussion, you must have understood that those who are self-employed such as pavement vegetable vendors, professionals such aslawyers, doctors and engineers are also workers. Mark (a), (b) and (c) againstself-employed, regular salaried employees and casual wage labourersrespectively:

1. Owner of a saloon

2. Worker in a rice mill who is paid on daily basis but employed regularly

3. Cashier in State Bank of India

4. Typist working in a state government office on a daily wage basis but

paid monthly

5. A handloom weaver

6. Loading worker in wholesale vegetable shop

7. Owner of a cool drinks shop which sells Pepsi, Coca Cola and Mirinda

8. Nurse in a private hospital who gets monthly salary and has beenworking regularly for the past 5 years.

Ø Economists point out that casual wage labourers are the most vulnerable

among the three categories. Could you locate who these workers are andwhere they are found and why?

Ø Can we say that the self-employed earn more than the casual wage labourers

or regular salaried employees? Identify a few other indicators of quality of

employment.

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7.5 EMPLOYMENT IN

FIRMS, FACTORIES

AND OFFICES

In the course ofeconomic development ofa country, labour flowsfrom agriculture andother related activities toindustry and services. Inthis process, workersmigrate from rural tourban areas. Eventually,at a much later stage,the industrial sector begins to lose itsshare of total employment as the servicesector enters a period of rapidexpansion. This shift can be understoodby looking at the distribution ofworkers by industry. Generally, wedivide all economic activities into eightdifferent industrial divisions. They are(i) Agriculture (ii) Mining and Quarrying(iii) Manufacturing (iv) Electricity, Gasand Water Supply (v) Construction (vi)Trade (vii) Transport and Storage and(viii) Services. For simplicity, all the

working persons engaged in thesedivisions can be clubbed into threemajor sectors viz., (a) primary sectorwhich includes (i) , (b) secondary sectorwhich includes (ii), (iii), (iv) and (v) and(c) service sector which includesdivisions (vi), (vii) and (viii). Table 7.2shows the distribution of workingpersons in different industries duringthe year 2011-12.

Primary sector is the main sourceof employment for majority of workers

TABLE 7.2

Distribution of Workforce by Industry, 2011-2012

Industrial Category Place of Residence Sex Total

Rural Urban Men Women

Primary Sector 64.1 6.7 43.6 62.8 48.9

Secondary Sector 20.4 35.0 25.9 20.0 24.3

Tertiary/ Service Sector 15.5 58.3 30.5 17.2 26.8

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Fig. 7.3 Garment workers: upcoming factory employment for women

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in India. Secondary sector provides

employment to only about 24 per cent

of workforce. About 27 per cent of

workers are in the service sector. Table

7.2 also shows that about 64 per cent

of the workforce in rural India depends

on agriculture, forestry and fishing.

About 20 per cent of rural workers are

working in manufacturing industries,

construction and other industrial

activities. Service sector provides

employment to only about 16 per cent

of rural workers. Agriculture is not a

major source of employment in urban

areas where people are mainly engaged

in the service sector. About 60 per cent

of urban workers are in the service

sector. The secondary sector gives

employment to about 35 per cent of

urban workforce.

Though both men and women

workers are concentrated in the

primary sector, women workers’

concentration is very high there. About

63 per cent of the female workforce is

employed in the primary sector whereas

less than half of males work in that

sector. Men get opportunities in both

secondary and service sectors.

7.6 GROWTH AND CHANGING STRUCTURE

OF EMPLOYMENT

In Chapters 2 and 3, you might havestudied about the planning strategiesin detail. Here we will look at twodevelopmental indicators — growth ofemployment and GDP. Sixty years ofplanned development have been aimedat expansion of the economy throughincrease in national output andemployment.

During the period 1950–2010,Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Indiagrew positively and was higher thanthe employment growth. However,there was always fluctuation in thegrowth of GDP. During this period,employment grew at the rate of notmore than 2 per cent.

Chart 7.3 also points at anotherdisheartening development in the late1990s: employment growth starteddeclining and reached the level ofgrowth that India had in the earlystages of planning. During these years,we also find a widening gap betweenthe growth of GDP and employment.This means that in the Indian economy,without generating employment, wehave been able to produce more goods

Work This Out

Ø All newspapers have one section meant for job opportunities. Some also

devote an entire supplement in a day or every week like Opportunities inThe Hindu or Ascent in The Times of India. Many companies advertisevacancies for various positions. Cut those sections. Develop a table whichcontains four columns: whether the company is private or public, name ofthe post, number of posts, sector — primary, secondary or tertiary — andqualification required. Analyse the table in the classroom about jobsadvertised in the newspapers.

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and services. Scholars refer to thisphenomenon as jobless growth.

So far we have seen howemployment has grown in comparisonto GDP. Now it is necessary to knowhow the growth pattern of employmentand GDP affected different sections ofworkforce. From this we will also beable to understand what types ofemployment are generated in ourcountry.

Let us look at two indicators thatwe have seen in the preceding sections— employment of people in variousindustries and their status. We knowthat India is an agrarian nation; amajor section of population lives inrural areas and is dependent onagriculture as their main livelihood.

Developmental strategies in manycountries, including India, have aimedat reducing the proportion of peopledepending on agriculture.

Distribution of workforce byindustrial sectors shows substantialshift from farm work to non-farm work(see Table 7.3). In 1972-73, about 74per cent of workforce was engaged inprimary sector and in 2011-12, thisproportion has declined to about50 per cent. Secondary and servicesectors are showing promising futurefor the Indian workforce. You maynotice that the shares of these sectorshave increased from 11 to 24 per centand 15 to 27 per cent, respectively.

The distribution of workforce indifferent status indicates that over the

Chart 7.3: Growth of Employment and Gross DomesticProduct, 1951–2012 (%)

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last four decades (1972-2012),people have moved from self-employment and regular salariedemployment to casual wage work. Yetself-employment continues to be themajor employment provider. Scholarscall the process of moving from

self-employment and regularsalaried employment to casual wagework as casualisation of workforce.This makes the workers highlyvulnerable. How? Look at the casestudy of Ahmedabad in the precedingsection.

Item 1972-73 1983 1993-94 1999-2000 2011-2012

Sector

Primary 74.3 68.6 64 60.4 48.9

Secondary 10.9 11.5 16 15.8 24.3

Services 14.8 16.9 20 23.8 26.8

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Status

Self-employed 61.4 57.3 54.6 52.6 52.0

Regular Salaried Employees 15.4 13.8 13.6 14.6 18.0

Casual Wage Labourers 23.2 28.9 31.8 32.8 30.0

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

TABLE 7.3

Trends in Employment Pattern (Sector-wise and Status-wise), 1972-2012 (in %)

Work These Out

ØDo you know that maintaining employment growth at 2 per cent for a country

like India is not an easy thing? Why?

Ø What will happen if there is no additional employment generated in the

economy even though we are able to produce goods and services in theeconomy? How could jobless growth happen?

Ø Economists say that if casualisation increases the earning of the people,

such phenomenon should be welcomed. Suppose a marginal farmer becomesa full-time agricultural labourer, do you think he will be happy even if heearns more in his daily wage work? Or will a permanent and regular workerof the pharmaceutical industry be happy if he becomes a daily wage labourer,even if his or her overall earnings increase? Discuss in the classroom.

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7.7 INFORMALISATION OF INDIAN

WORKFORCE

In the previous section we have foundthat the proportion of casual labourershas been increasing. One of the objectivesof development planning in India, sinceIndia’s independence, has been toprovide decent livelihood to its people. Ithas been envisaged that theindustrialisation strategy would bringsurplus workers from agriculture toindustry with better standard of living asin developed countries. We have seen inthe preceding section, that even after 55years of planned development, more thanhalf of the Indian workforce depends onfarming as the major source of livelihood.

Economists argue that, over theyears, the quality of employment hasbeen deteriorating. Even after working formore than 10-20 years, why do someworkers not get maternity benefit,provident fund, gratuity and pension?Why does a person working in the privatesector get a lower salary as compared toanother person doing the same work butin the public sector?

You may find that a small sectionof Indian workforce is getting regularincome. The government, through its

labour laws, enable them to protecttheir rights in various ways. Thissection of the workforce forms tradeunions, bargains with employers forbetter wages and other social securitymeasures. Who are they? To know thiswe classify workforce into twocategories: workers in formal andinformal sectors, which are also referredto as organised and unorganisedsectors. All the public sectorestablishments and those privatesector establishments which employ10 hired workers or more are calledformal sector establishments and thosewho work in such establishments areformal sector workers. All otherenterprises and workers working inthose enterprises form the informalsector. Thus, informal sector includesmillions of farmers, agriculturallabourers, owners of small enterprisesand people working in those enterprisesas also the self-employed who do nothave any hired workers. It also includesall non-farm casual wage labourerswho work for more than one employersuch as construction workers andheadload workers.

Those who are working in the formalsector enjoy social security benefits.

Box 7.1: Formal Sector Employment

The information relating to employment in the formal sector is collected by theUnion Ministry of Labour through employment exchanges located in different partsof the country. Do you know who is the major employer in the formal sector inIndia? In 2012, out of about 30 million formal sector workers, about 18 millionworkers were employed by the public sector. Here also men form the majority, aswomen constitute only about one-sixth of the formal sector workforce. Economistspoint out that the reform process initiated in the early 1990s resulted in a declinein the number of workers employed in the formal sector. What do you think?

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They earn more than those in theinformal sector. Developmentalplanning envisaged that as the economygrows, more and more workers wouldbecome formal sector workers and theproportion of workers engaged in theinformal sector would dwindle.But what has happened in India?Look at the followingchart which givesthe distribution ofworkforce in formaland informal sectors.

In Section 7.2, welearnt that there areabout 473 millionworkers in the country.There are about 30million workers in theformal sector. Can youestimate the percentageof people employed inthe formal sectors in

the country? About only six per cent(30/473×100)! Thus, the rest 94 percent are in the informal sector. Out of30 million formal sector workers, only6 million, that is, only about 21 per cent(30/6×100) are women. In the informalsector, male workers account for 69 percent of the workforce.

Chart 7.4: Workers in Formal/ Informal Sector, 2009-2012

Fig. 7.4 Road side vending: an increasing variety of informal sector employment

Num

ber

of

Work

ers

(in

m

illi

on

)

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

246

310

133

Male Female

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Box 7.2: Informalisation in Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad is a prosperous city with its wealth based on the produce of morethan 60 textile mills with a labour force of 1,50,000 workers employed in them.These workers had, over the course of the century, acquired a certain degreeof income security. They hadsecure jobs with a livingwage; they were covered bysocial security schemesprotecting their health andold age. They had a strongtrade union which not onlyrepresented them indisputes but also ranactivities for the welfare ofworkers and their families.In the early 1980s, textilemills all over the countrybegan to close down. In someplaces, such as Mumbai,the mills closed rapidly. InAhmedabad, the process ofclosure was long drawn outand spread over 10 years.Over this period, approximately over 80,000 permanent workers and over 50,000non-permanent workers lost their jobs and were driven to the informal sector.The city experienced an economic recession and public disturbances, especiallycommunal riots. A whole class of workers was thrown back from the middleclass into the informal sector, into poverty. There was widespread alcoholismand suicides, children were withdrawn from school and sent to work.

Source: Renana Jhabvala, Ratna M. Sudarshan and Jeemol Unni (Ed.) Informal

Economy at Centre Stage: New Structures of Employment, Sage

Publications, New Delhi, 2003, pp.265.

Since the late 1970s, manydeveloping countries, including India,started paying attention to enterprisesand workers in the informal sector asemployment in the formal sector is notgrowing. Workers and enterprises in theinformal sector do not get regular income;they do not have any protection or

regulation from the government. Workersare dismissed without any compensation.Technology used in the informal sectorenterprises is outdated; they also do notmaintain any accounts. Workers of thissector live in slums and are squatters.

Of late, owing to the efforts of the

International Labour Organisation (ILO),

Change in the balance of power in a house: anunemployed mill worker peeling garlic whereas his wifehas a new job of beedi rolling.

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the Indian government has initiated themodernisation of informal sector

enterprises and provision of social security

measures to informal sector

workers.

7.8 UNEMPLOYMENT

You might have seen peoplelooking for jobs innewspapers. Some look fora job through friendsand relatives. In manycities, you might findpeople standing in someselect areas looking forpeople to employ themfor that day’s work. Somego to factories and officesand give their bio-data

and ask whether there is any vacancyin their factory or office. Many inthe rural areas do not go out and

Work These Out

Tick (ü) mark against those which are in the informal sector

Ø Worker in a hotel which has seven hired workers and three family workers

Ø A private school teacher in a school which has 25 teachers

Ø A police constable

Ø Nurse in a government hospital

Ø Cycle-rickshaw puller

Ø The owner of a textile shop employing nine workers

Ø Driver of a bus company which has more than 10 buses with 20 drivers,

conductors and other workers

Ø Civil engineer working in a construction company which has 10 workers

Ø Computer operator in the state government office working on a temporary

basis

Ø A clerk in the electricity office.

Fig. 7.5 Unemployed mill workers waiting for casual jobs

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ask for a job but stay home whenthere is no work. Some go toemployment exchanges and registerthemselves for vacancies notifiedthrough employment exchanges. NSSOdefines unemployment as a situationin which all those who, owing to lackof work, are not working buteither seek work through employmentexchanges, intermediaries, friends orrelatives or by making applications toprospective employers or express theirwillingness or availability for workunder the prevailing condition of workand remunerations. There are a varietyof ways by which an unemployedperson is identified. Economists defineunemployed person as one who is notable to get employment of even onehour in half a day.

There are three sources of data onunemployment : Reports of Census ofIndia, National Sample SurveyOrganisation’s Reports of Employmentand Unemployment Situation and

Directorate General ofEmployment and TrainingData of Registration withEmployment Exchanges.Though they providedifferent estimates ofunemployment, they doprovide us with theattributes of theunemployed and thevariety of unemploymentprevailing in our country.

Do we have differenttypes of unemploymentin our economy? Thesituation described in the

first paragraph of this section is calledopen unemployment. Economists callunemployment prevailing in Indianfarms as disguised unemployment.What is disguised unemployment?Suppose a farmer has four acres of landand he actually needs only two workersand himself to carry out variousoperations on his farm in a year, but ifhe employs five workers and his familymembers such as his wife and children,this situation is known as disguisedunemployment. One study conductedin the late 1950s showed about one-third of agriculture workers in India asdisguisedly unemployed.

You may have noticed that manypeople migrate to an urban area, pickup a job and stay there for some time,but come back to their home villagesas soon as the rainy season begins.Why do they do so? This is becausework in agriculture is seasonal; thereare no employment opportunities in thevillage for all months in the year. When

Fig. 7.6 Sugar cane cutters: disguised unemployment is commonin farm works

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there is no work to do on farms, peoplego to urban areas and look for jobs.This kind of unemployment is knownas seasonal unemployment. This is alsoa common form of unemploymentprevailing in India.

Though we have witnessed slowgrowth of employment, have you seenpeople being unemployed over a verylong time? Scholars say that in India,people cannot remain completelyunemployed for very long because theirdesperate economic condition wouldnot allow them to be so. You will ratherfind them being forced to acceptjobs that nobody else would do,unpleasant or even dangerous jobs inunclean, or unhealthy surroundings.The Central and State governments takemany initiatives and generate

employment to facilitate adecent living for low incomefamilies through variousmeasures. These will bediscussed in the followingsection.

7.9 GOVERNMENT AND

EMPLOYMENT GENERATION

You may recall about

the Mahatma Gandhi National

Rural Employment Guarantee

Act 2005. It promises 100 days

of guaranteed wage employment

to all rural households who

volunteer to do unskilled

manual work. This scheme is

one of the many measures the

government has implemented

to generate employment for those who

are in need of jobs in rural areas.

Since Independence, the Union and

State governments have played

an important role in generating

employment or creating opportunities

for employment generation. Their

efforts can be broadly categorised into

two — direct and indirect. In the first

category, as you have seen in the

preceding section, the government

employs people in various departments

for administrative purposes. It also runs

industries, hotels and transport

companies, and hence, provides

employment directly to workers. When

the output of goods and services from

government enterprises increases, then

Fig. 7.7 Dam construction work is a direct way of employmentgeneration by the government

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private enterprises which receive rawmaterials from government enterpriseswill also raise their output and henceincrease the number of employmentopportunities in the economy. Forexample, when a government ownedsteel company increases its output, it

will result in direct increase inemployment in that government

company. Simultaneously, private

companies, which purchase steel from

it, will also increase their output andthus employment. This is the indirect

generation of employment

opportunities by the government

initiatives in the economy.In Chapter 4, you would have

noticed that many programmes that

the governments implement, aimed at

alleviating poverty, are throughemployment generation. They are

also known as employment

generation programmes. All these

programmes aim at providing notonly employment but also services in

areas such as primary health,

primary education, rural drinking

water, nutrition, assistance for peopleto buy income and employment

generating assets, development of

community assets by generating

wage employment, construction ofhouses and sanitation, assistance for

constructing houses, laying of rural

roads, development of wastelands/

degraded lands.

7.10 CONCLUSION

There has been a change in thestructure of workforce in India. Newly

emerging jobs are found mostly in the

service sector. The expansion of the

service sector and the advent of high

technology now frequently permit a

highly competitive existence for efficient

small scale and often individual

enterprises or specialist workers side by

side with the multinationals.

Outsourcing of work is becoming a

common practice. It means that a

big firm finds it profitable to close

down some of its specialist

departments (for example, legal or

computer programming or customer

service sections) and hand over a large

number of small piecemeal jobs to very

small enterprises or specialist

individuals, sometimes situated even in

other countries. The traditional notion

of the modern factory or office, as a

result, has been altering in such

a manner that for many the home

is becoming the workplace. All of

this change has not gone in favour

of the individual worker. The nature

of employment has become more

informal with only limited availability

of social security measures to the

workers.

In the last two decades, there

has been rapid growth in the gross

domestic product, but without

simultaneous increase in employment

opportunities. This has forced the

government to take up initiatives in

generating employment opportunities

particularly in the rural areas.

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1. Who is a worker?

2. Define worker-population ratio.

3. Are the following workers — a beggar, a thief, a smuggler, a gambler?Why?

Recap

Ø All those persons who are engaged in various economic activities and

hence contribute to gross national product are workers.

Ø About two-fifth of the total population in the country is engaged in various

economic activities.

Ø Men particularly rural men, form the major section of workforce in India.

Ø Majority of workers in India are self-employed. Casual wage labourers

and regular salaried employees together account for less than half theproportion of India’s workforce.

Ø About three-fifth of India’s workforce depends on agriculture and other

allied activities as the major source of livelihood.

Ø In recent years, the growth of employment has decelerated.

Ø During post-reform period, India has been witness to employment

opportunities in the service sector. These new jobs are found mostly inthe informal sector and the nature of jobs is also mostly casual.

Ø Government is the major formal sector employer in the country.

Ø Disguised unemployment is a common form of unemployment in rural

India.

Ø There has been a change in the structure of the workforce in India.

Ø Through various schemes and policies, the government takes initiatives

to generate employment directly and indirectly.

EXERCISES

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4. Find the odd man out (i) owner of a saloon (ii) a cobbler (iii) a cashierin Mother Dairy (iv) a tuition master (v) transport operator(vi) construction worker.

5. The newly emerging jobs are found mostly in the sector(service/manufacturing).

6. An establishement with four hired workers is known as (formal/informal) sector establishment.

7. Raj is going to school. When he is not in school, you will find himworking in his farm. Can you consider him as a worker? Why?

8. Compared to urban women, more rural women are found working.Why?

9. Meena is a housewife. Besides taking care of household chores, sheworks in the cloth shop which is owned and operated by her husband.Can she be considered as a worker? Why?

10. Find the odd man out (i) rickshaw puller who works under a rick-shaw owner (ii) mason (iii) mechanic shop worker (iv) shoeshine boy.

11. The following table shows distribution of workforce in India for theyear 1972-73. Analyse it and give reasons for the nature of workforcedistribution. You will notice that the data is pertaining to the situationin India 30 years ago!

Place of Residence Workforce (in millions)

Male Female Total

Rural 125 69 195

Urban 32 7 39

12. The following table shows the population and worker population ratiofor India in 1999-2000. Can you estimate the workforce (urban andtotal) for India?

Region Estimates of Worker Estimated

Population Population No. of Workers

(in crores) Ratio (in crores)

Rural 71.88 41.9 71.88 × 41.9 = 30.12

Urban 28.52 33.7 ?

Total 100.40 39.5 ?

100

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13. Why are regular salaried employees more in urban areas than inrural areas?

14. Why are less women found in regular salaried employment?

15. Analyse the recent trends in sectoral distribution of workforce in India.

16. Compared to the 1970s, there has hardly been any change in thedistribution of workforce across various industries. Comment.

17. Do you think that in the last 50 years, employment generated in thecountry is commensurate with the growth of GDP in India? How?

18. Is it necessary to generate employment in the formal sector ratherthan in the informal sector? Why?

19. Victor is able to get work only for two hours in a day. Rest of the day,he is looking for work. Is he unemployed? Why? What kind of jobscould persons like Victor be doing?

20. You are residing in a village. If you are asked to advice the villagepanchayat, what kinds of activities would you suggest for theimprovement of your village which would also generate employment.

21. Who is a casual wage labourer?

22. How will you know whether a worker is working in the informal sector?

1. Select a region, say a street or colony, and divide it into 3-4

sub-regions. Conduct a survey by which you can collect the details

of activity each person living there is engaged in. Derive the

worker-population ratio for all the regions. Interpret the results for

differences in worker-population ratio for the different sub-regions.

2. Suppose 3-4 groups of students are given different regions of a state.

One region is mainly engaged in cultivation of paddy. In another region,

coconut is the main plantation. The third region is a coastal region

where fishing is the main activity. The fourth region has a river nearby

with a lot of livestock rearing activities. Ask all the four groups to

develop a report on what kind of employment could be generated in

the four regions.

3. Visit the local library and ask for Employment News, a weekly published

by the Government of India. Go through each issue for the last two

months. There will be seven issues. Select 25 advertisements and


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fill in the following table (expand the table as needed). Discuss the

nature of jobs in the classroom.

Items Advertisement 1 Advertisement 2

1. Name of Office2. Department/company3. Private/public/joint venture4. Name of the post5. Sector—primary/seconday/

service6. Number of posts/vacancies7. Qualification required

4. You might notice, in your locality, a variety of works being done bythe government, for example laying of roads, desilting of tanks,construction of school buildings, hospital and other governmentoffices, construction of check dams and houses for the poor etc.Prepare a critical assessment report on one such activity. The issuescovered could be the following (i) how the work was identified (ii)amount sanctioned (iii) contribution of local people, if any (iv) numberof persons involved — both men and women (v) wages paid (vi) is itreally required in that area and other critical comments on theimplementation of the scheme under which the work is being carriedout.

5. In recent years, you may have noticed that many voluntaryorganisations also take initiatives to generate employment in hillyand dry land regions. If you find such initiatives in your locality, visitand prepare a report.

CHADHA, G.K. and P.P. SAHU, 2002. ‘Post-reform Setbacks in Rural Employment:Issues that need further scrutiny.’ Economic and Political Weekly, May25, pp.1998-2026.

DESAI, S and M.B.DAS. 2004. ‘Is Employment Driving India’s Growth Surge’,Economic and Political Weekly, July 3, pp. 3045-3051.

GHOSE, AJIT K. 1999. ‘Current Issues of Employment Policy in India.’ Economic

and Political Weekly, September 4, pp. 2592-2608.

HIRWAY, INDIRA. 2002. ‘Employment and Unemployment Situation in 1990s:How Good are NSS Data.’ Economic and Political Weekly, May 25,pp. 2027-2036.

REFERENCES

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JACOB, PAUL. 1986. ‘Concept of ‘work’ and estimates of ‘workforce’ — Anappraisal of the treatment of activities relating to non-marketed output,’Sarvekshana, Vol.IX, No.4, April.

KULSHRESHTHA, A.C., GULAB SINGH, ALOK KAR and R.L. MISHRA. 2000. ‘Workforce inthe Indian National Accounts Statistics,’ The Journal of Income and Wealth,Vol.22, No.2, July, pp. 3-39.

PRADHAN, B.K. and M.R.SALUJA. 1996. ‘Labour Statistics in India: A Review.’Margin, July- September, Vol.28, Number 4, pp. 319-347.

RATH, NILAKANTHA. 2001. ‘Data on Employment, Unemployment and Education:Where to go from here?’ Economic and Political Weekly, June 9,pp. 2081-2087.

SUNDARAM, K. 2001. ‘Employment-Unemployment Situation in the Nineties:Some Results from NSS 55th Round Survey’, Economic and Political

Weekly, March 17, pp. 931-940.

SUNDARAM, K. 2001. ‘Employment and Poverty in 1990s: Further Results fromNSS 55th Round Employment-Unemployment Survey, 1999-2000,’Economic and Political Weekly, August 11, pp. 3039-3049.

VISARIA, PRAVIN. 1996. ‘Structure of the Indian Workforce, 1961-1994,’ The

Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Vol.39, No.4, pp. 725-740.

Government Reports

Annual Reports, Ministry of Labour, Government of India, Delhi.

Census of India 2011, Primary Census Abstract, Registrar General of CensusOperations, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, Delhi.

Economic Survey, Ministry of Finance, Government of India.

Reports on Employment and Unemployment Situation in India, Ministry ofStatistics and Planning, Government of India.

Websites

www.censusofindia.nic.inwww.mospi.nic.in

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• understand the main challenges India faces in the areas of social andeconomic infrastructure

• know the role of infrastructure in economic development

• understand the role of energy as a critical component of infrastructure

• understand the problems and prospects of the energy and health sectors

• understand the health infrastructure of India.

INFRASTRUCTURE

8

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8.1 INTRODUCTION

Have you ever thought of why somestates in India are performing muchbetter than others in certain areas? Whydo Punjab, Haryana and HimachalPradesh prosper in agriculture andhorticulture? Why are Maharashtraand Gujarat industrially moreadvanced than others? How comeKerala, popularly known as ‘God’s owncountry’, has excelled in literacy, healthcare and sanitation and also attractstourists in such large numbers? Whydoes Karnataka’s informationtechnology industry attracts worldattention?

It is all because these states havebetter infrastructure in the areas theyexcel than other states of India. Somehave better irrigation facilities. Othershave better transportation facilities, orare located near ports which makes rawmaterials required for various

manufacturing industries easilyaccessible. Cities like Bengaluru inKarnataka attract many multinationalcompanies because they provideworld-class communication facilities.All these support structures, whichfacilitate development of a country,constitute its infrastructure. Howthen does infrastructure facilitatedevelopment?

8.2 WHAT IS INFRASTRUCTURE?

Infrastructure provides supportingservices in the main areas of industrialand agricultural production, domesticand foreign trade and commerce. Theseservices include roads, railways, ports,airports, dams, power stations, oil andgas pipelines, telecommunicationfacilities, the country’s educationalsystem including schools and colleges,health system including hospitals,sanitary system including clean

drinking water facili-ties and the monetarysystem includingbanks, insurance andother financial institu-tions. Some of thesefacilities have a directimpact on productionof goods and serviceswhile others giveindirect support bybuilding the socialsector of the economy.

“Many things we need can wait, the child cannot. To him, we cannot say,‘tomorrow’. His name is today.”

Gabrriella Mistral— Chilean poetSo is the Infrastructure.

Fig. 8.1 Roads are the missing link with growth

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141INFRASTRUCUTRE

Some divide infrastructure intotwo categories — economic and social.Infrastructure associated with energy,transportation and communicationare included in the former categorywhereas those related to education,health and housing are included inthe latter.

speedy and large-scaletransport of seeds,pesticides, fertilisersand the produce usingmodern roadways,railways and shippingfacilities. In recent times,agriculture also dependson insurance andbanking facilitiesbecause of its need tooperate on a very largescale.

Infrastructure contributes toeconomic development of a countryboth by increasing the productivity ofthe factors of production and improvingthe quality of life of its people.Inadequate infrastructure can havemultiple adverse effects on health.Improvements in water supply andsanitation have a large impact byreducing morbidity (meaningproneness to fall ill) from majorwaterborne diseases and reducing theseverity of disease when it occurs. Inaddition to the obvious linkage betweenwater and sanitation and health,the quality of transport andcommunication infrastructure canaffect access to health care. Air pollutionand safety hazards connected totransportation also affect morbidity,particularly in densely populated areas.

8.4 THE STATE OF INFRASTRUCTURE ININDIA

Traditionally, the government has beensolely responsible for developing the

8.3 RELEVANCE OF INFRASTRUCTURE

Infrastructure is the support system onwhich depends the efficient working ofa modern industrial economy. Modernagriculture also largely depends on it for

Work This Out

Ø In your locality or

neighbourhood you mightbe using a variety ofinfrastructure. List all ofthose. Your locality may alsobe requiring a few more.List those separately.

Fig. 8.2 Schools: an important infrastructure for a nation

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country’s infrastructure. But it wasfound that the government’s investmentin infrastructure was inadequate.Today, the private sector by itself andalso in joint partnership with the publicsector, has started playing a veryimportant role in infrastructuredevelopment.

A majority of our people livein rural areas. Despite so muchtechnical progress in the world,rural women arestill using bio-fuelssuch as cropresidues, dungand fuel wood tomeet their energyrequirement. Theywalk long dis-tances to fetchfuel, water andother basic needs.The census 2001shows that in ruralIndia only 56 percent householdshave an electricityconnection and 43

per cent still usekerosene. About90 per cent of therural householdsuse bio-fuels forcooking. Tap wateravailabil ity islimited to only 24per cent ruralhouseholds. About76 per cent of thepopulation drinkswater from open

sources such as wells, tanks, ponds,lakes, rivers, canals, etc. Access toimproved sanitation in rural areas wasonly 20 per cent.

Look at Table 8.1 which shows thestate of some infrastructure in India incomparison to a few other countries.Though it is widely understood thatinfrastructure is the foundation ofdevelopment, India is yet to wake upto the call. India invests only 34 per cent

Fig. 8.3 Dams: temples of development

Fig. 8.4 Safe drinking water with pucca house: still a dream

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143INFRASTRUCUTRE

of its GDP on infrastructure, which isfar below that of China and Indonesia.

Some economists have projectedthat India will become the third biggesteconomy in the world a few decadesfrom now. For that to happen, India will

have to boost its infrastructureinvestment. In any country, as theincome rises, the composition ofinfrastructure requirements changessignificantly. For low-income countries,basic infrastructure services, likeirrigation, transport and power, aremore important. As economies matureand most of their basic consumptiondemands are met, the share ofagriculture in the economy shrinks andmore service-related infrastructure isrequired. This is why, the share of powerand telecommunication infrastructureis greater in high-income countries.

Thus, development of infrastructureand economic development go hand inhand. Agriculture depends, to aconsiderable extent, on the adequateexpansion and development of irrigationfacilities. Industrial progress dependson the development of power andelectricity generation, transport andcommunications. Obviously, if properattention is not paid to the developmentof infrastructure, it is likely to act as a

TABLE 8.1

Some Infrastructure in India and other Countries

Country Investment* in Access to Access to Mobile Power

Infrastructure Improved Improved Subscribers/100 Generationas a % GDP Water Source Sanitation (%) People (billion kwh)

(2014) (%) (2015) (2015) (2015) (2016)

China 46 96 77 93 6015Hong Kong 24 92 100 229 39

India 34 94 40 79 1423

South Korea 29 98 100 119 549

Pakistan 15 91 64 70 105**

Singapore 29 100 100 146 49**

Indonesia 35 87 61 132 249

SourceSourceSourceSourceSource: World Development Indicators 2017, World Bank website: www.worldbank.org./ (*) refers to

Gross Capital Formation; https://yearbook.enerdata.net (**data pertaining to 2014)

Work These Out

Ø While reading newspapers

you will come across termslike Bharat nirman, SpecialPurpose Vehicle (SPV),Special Economic Zones(SEZ), Build OperateTransfer (BOT), PrivatePublic Partnership (PPP) etc.Make a scrapbook of newsitems containing theseterms. How are these termsrelated to infrastructure?

Ø Using the references at

the end of the chapter,co l l ec t the deta i ls o fother infrastructure.

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severe constraint oneconomic development. Inthis chapter the focuswill be on only two kinds ofinfrastructure —thoseassociated with energyand health.

8.5 ENERGY

Why do we need energy?In what forms is itavailable? Energy is acritical aspect of thedevelopment process of anation. It is, of course,essential for industries.Now it is used on a largescale in agriculture and related areaslike production and transportation offertilisers, pesticides and farmequipment. It is required in houses forcooking, household lighting andheating. Can you think of producing acommodity or service without usingenergy?

Sources of Energy: There arecommercial and non-commercialsources of energy. Commercialsources are coal, petroleum andelectricity as they are bought andsold. Non-commercial sources ofenergy are firewood, agriculturalwaste and dried dung. These are non-

commercial as they arefound in nature/forests.

While commercialsources of energy aregenerally exhaustible(with the exception ofhydropower), non-commercial sources aregenerally renewable.More than 60 per cent ofIndian householdsdepend on traditionalsources of energy formeeting their regularcooking and heatingneeds.

Fig. 8.6 Bullock carts still play a crucial role in ruraltransportation market

Fig. 8.5 Fuel wood is the major source of energy

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145INFRASTRUCUTRE

Non-conventional Sources ofEnergy: Both commercial andnon-commercial sources ofenergy are known asconventional sources of energy.There are three other sourcesof energy which are commonlytermed as non-conventionalsources — solar energy, windenergy and tidal power. Beinga tropical country, India hasalmost unlimited potential forproducing all three types ofenergy if some appropriate costeffective technologies that are alreadyavailable are used. Even cheapertechnologies can be developed.

Consumption Pattern of CommercialEnergy: In India, commercial energyconsumption makes up about 74 percent of the total energy consumed inIndia. This includes coal with thelargest share of 54 per cent, followedby oil at 32 per cent, natural gas at 10per cent and hydro energy at 2 per cent.Non-commercial energy sourcesconsisting of firewood, cow dung andagricultural wastes account forover 26 per cent of the total energyconsumption. The critical feature ofIndia’s energy sector, and its linkagesto the economy, is the importdependence on crude and petroleumproducts, which is likely to grow rapidlyin the near future.

The sectoral pattern of consumptionof commercial energy is given in Table8.2. The transport sector was the largestconsumer of commercial energy in1953-54. However, there has beencontinuous fall in the share of thetransport sector while the shares of thehousehold, agriculture and industrialsector have been increasing. The share

Fig. 8.7 Wind mill : another source of generating

power

Fig. 8.8 Solar energy has great prospects

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of oil and gas is the highest among allcommercial energy consumption. Withthe rapid rate of economic growth, therehas been a corresponding increase inthe use of energy.

Power/Electricity: The most visibleform of energy, which is often identifiedwith progress in modern civilisation, ispower, commonly called electricity. It isa critical component of infrastructurethat determines the economicdevelopment of a country. The growthrate of demand for power is generally

higher than the GDP growth rate.Studies point out that in order to have8 per cent GDP growth per annum,power supply needs to grow around 12per cent annually.

In India, in 2016, thermalsources accounted for 67 per centof the power generation capacity.Hydel power accounted for 14 per cent,while nuclear power accounted for only2 per cent. India’s energy policyencourages two energy sources — hydeland wind — as they do not rely on fossil

fuel and, hence, avoidcarbon emissions. Yet,this has not resulted infaster growth of electricityproduced from these twosources.

Atomic energy is animportant source ofelectric power, it haseconomic advantages.At present, nuclearenergy accounts for only2 per cent of the totalenergy consumption,

Source: Ninth Five year Plan, Vol. II, Chapter 6, Planning Commission, Government of India, New Delhi

and Energy Statistics 2016, Central Statistical Office, Ministry of Statistics and ProgrammeImplementation, Government of India.

Chart 8.1: Different Sources of Electricity Generatedin India, 2016

TABLE 8.2

Trends in Sectoral Share of Commercial Energy Consumption (in %)

Sector 1953-54 1970-71 1990-91 2014-15

Household 10 12 12 23

Agriculture 01 03 08 18

Industries 40 50 45 44

Transport 44 28 22 2

Others 5 07 13 13

Total 100 100 100 100

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147INFRASTRUCUTRE

against a global average of 13 per cent.This is far too low. Hence, somescholars suggest to generate moreelectricity through atmoic (nuclear)sources and yet a few others objectabout this, from the viewpoint ofenvironment and sustainabledevelopment. What do you think?

Some Challenges in the PowerSector: Electricity generated byvarious power stations is not consumedentirely by ultimate consumers; a partis consumed by power stationauxiliaries. Also, while transmittingpower, a portion is lost in transmission.What we get in our houses, offices andfactories is the net availability.

Some of the challenges that India’spower sector faces today are — (i) India’sinstalled capacity to generate electricityis not sufficient to feed an annualeconomic growth of 7–8 per cent. Inorder to meet the growing demand forelectricity, India’s commercial energysupply needs to grow at about 7 percent. At present, India is able to addonly 20,000 MW a year. Even theinstalled capacity is under-utilisedbecause plants are not run properly(ii) State Electricity Boards (SEBs),which distribute electricity, incurlosses which exceed Rs 500 billion.This is due to transmission anddistribution losses, wrong pricing ofelectricity and other inefficiencies. Somescholars also say that distribution ofelectricity to farmers is the main reason

Box 8.1: Making a Difference

Thane city is acquiring a brand new image — an environment-friendlymakeover. Large-scale use of solar energy, which was considered a somewhatfar-fetched concept, has brought in real benefits and results in cost and energysaving. It is being applied to heat water, power traffic lights and advertisinghoardings. And leading this unique experiment is the Thane MunicipalCorporation. It has made compulsory for all new buildings in the city to installsolar water heating system. (Appeared in the column, Making a Difference,Outlook, 01 August 2005).

ØCan you suggest such other ideas to use non-conventional energy in a better

way?

Work These Out

Ø Among other sources of

energy, you would have

noticed that a marginal share

of energy comes from nuclear

power. Why?

Ø Solar energy, wind power and

power produced from tides

are going to be the future

sources of energy. What are

their comparative merits

and demerits? Discuss in

the class.

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for the losses; electricity is also stolenin different areas which also adds to thewoes of SEBs (iii) private sector powergenerators are yet to play their role in amajor way; same is the case withforeign investors (iv) there is generalpublic unrest due to high power tariffs

Box 8.2: Power Distribution: The Case of Delhi

Since Independence, power management in the national capital has changed

hands four times. The Delhi State Electricity Board (DSEB) was set up in

1951. This was succeeded by the Delhi Electric Supply Undertaking (DESU)

in 1958. The Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB) came into existence as SEB in

February 1997. Now, the distribution of electricity vests with two leading

Private sector companies — Reliance Energy Limited (BSES Rajdhani Power

Limited and BSES Yamuna Power Limited) and Tata Power Limited (NDPL).

They supply electricity to approximately 46 lakh customers in Delhi. The

tariff structure and other regulatory issues are monitored by the Delhi

Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC). Though it was expected that

there will be greater improvement in power distribution and the consumers

will benefit in a major way, experience shows unsatisfactory results.

Box 8.3: Saving Energy: Promoting the Case of Compact FluorescentLamps (CFL) and LED Bulbs

According to the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), CFLs consume 80 per cent

less power as compared to ordinary bulbs. As put by a CFL manufacturer,

Indo-Asian, replacement of one million 100-watt bulbs with 20 watt CFLs can

save 80 megawatt in power generation. This amounts to saving Rs 400 crore.

These days LED (Light Emitting Diode) lamps are promoted throughout the

country to save energy. The LED bulb uses one-tenth energy as an

incandescent bulb and half as much as a CFL to produce the same amount of

light. According to the Energy Efficiency Services Ltd, the UJALA scheme that

aims to replace incandescent bulbs with LEDs could save 5,905 MW in power

generation. This translates to an annual savings of Rs. 4,000 for an average

family due to efficiency gains and lower replacement costs.

and prolonged power cuts in differentparts of the country, and (v) thermalpower plants, which are the mainstay ofIndia’s power sector are facing shortageof raw material and coal supplies.

Thus, continued economicdevelopment and population growth

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are driving the demand for energy fasterthan what India is producing currently.More public investment, better researchand development efforts, exploration,technological innovation and use ofrenewable energy sources can ensureadditional supply of electricity. Insteadof investing in the power sector by

adding to the installed capacity, thegovernment has gone for privatisationof the power sector, and particularly,distribution (see Box 8.2), and allowedmuch higher prices for electricity thathave impacted certain sectors verybadly (see Box 3.3). Do you think it is aright policy?

Work These Out

Ø What kind of energy do you use in your house? Find out from your parents

the amount they spend in a month on different types of energy.

Ø Who supplies power to you and where is it generated? Can you think of

other cheaper alternative sources which could help in lighting your house

or cooking food or for travelling to far away places?

Ø Look at the following table. Do you think energy consumption is an effective

indicator of development?

Country GDP per capita Energy use (kg of(in US $) in oil equivalent per

2015 (ppp) capita) 2014

India 5730 637

Indonesia 10,835 884

Egypt 10,250 815

U.K. 38,866 2777

Japan 35,804 3471

U.S.A. 52,704 6957

Source: World Development Indicators 2017, www.worldbank.org

Ø Find out how power is distributed in your area/state. Also find out the total

electricity demand of your city and how it is being met.

Ø You might notice people using a variety of methods to save electricity and

other energy. For instance, while using the gas stove, some suggestions are

made by gas agencies for using the gas efficiently and economically. Discuss

them with your parents and the elderly, note down the points and discuss

them in class.

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8.6 HEALTH

Health is not only absence of diseasebut also the ability to realise one’spotential. It is a yardstick of one’s wellbeing. Health is the holistic processrelated to the overall growth anddevelopment of the nation. Though thetwentieth century has seen a globaltransformation in human healthunmatched in history, it may bedifficult to define the health status of anation in terms of a single set ofmeasures. Generally scholars assesspeople’s health by taking into accountindicators like infant mortality andmaternal mortality rates, life expectancyand nutrition levels, along with theincidence of communicable and non-communicable diseases.

Development of health infra-structure ensures a country of healthymanpower for the production of goods

and services. In recent times, scholars

argue that people are entitled to healthcare facilities. It is the responsibility of

the government to ensure the right to

healthy living. Health infrastructure

includes hospitals, doctors, nurses andother para-medical professionals, beds,

equipment required in hospitals and a

well-developed pharmaceutical

industry. It is also true that merepresence of health infrastructure is not

sufficient to have healthy people. The

same should be accessible to all people.

Since, the initial stages of planneddevelopment, policy-makers envisaged

that no individual should fail to secure

medical care, curative and preventive,

because of the inability to pay for it. Butare we able to achieve this vision?

Before we discuss various health

infrastructure, let us discuss the status

of health in India.

Fig. 8.9 Health infrastructure is still lacking in large parts of the country

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State of Health Infra-structure: The governmenthas the constitutionalobligation to guide and regulateall health-related issues, suchas medical education,adulteration of food, drugs andpoisons, medical profession,vital statistics, mentaldeficiency and lunacy. TheUnion Government evolvesbroad policies and plansthrough the Central Council ofHealth and Family Welfare. Itcollects information andrenders financial and technicalassistance to State governments,Union Territories and other bodies forthe implementation of important healthprogrammes in the country.

Over the years, India hasbuilt a vast health infrastructure andmanpower at different levels. At thevillage level, a variety of hospitals,technically known as Primary HealthCentres (PHCs), (see also Box 8.5), havebeen set up by the government. Indiaalso has a large number of hospitals runby voluntary agencies and the privatesector. These hospitals are manned byprofessionals and para-medicalprofessionals trained in medical,pharmacy and nursing colleges.

Since Independence, there has beena significant expansion in the physicalprovision of health services. During1951–2013, the number of governmenthospitals and dispensaries increasedfrom 9,300 to 44,000 and hospital bedsfrom 1.2 to 6.3 lakh. Also, nursingpersonnel increased from 0.18 to 23.44lakh and allopathic doctors from 0.62 to

9.2 lakh. The expansion of healthinfrastructure has resulted in theeradication of smallpox, guinea wormsand the near eradication of polio andleprosy.

Private Sector Health Infrastructure:In recent times, while the public healthsector has not been so successful indelivering the goods about which wewill study more in the next section,private sector has grown by leaps andbounds. More than 70 per cent of thehospitals in India are run by the privatesector. They control nearly two-fifth ofthe beds available in the hospitals.Nearly 60 per cent of dispensaries arerun by the same private sector. Theyprovide healthcare for 80 per cent ofout-patients and 46 per cent ofin-patients.

In recent times, private sector hasbeen playing a dominant role in medicaleducation and training, medicaltechnology and diagnostics, manufactureand sale of pharmaceuticals, hospital

TABLE 8.3

Public Health Infrastructure in India, 1951-2015

Item 1951 1981 2000 2014-15

Hospitals 2,694 6,805 15,888 19,653

(Govt.)

Beds (Govt.) 1,17,000 5,04,538 7,19,861 7,54,724

Dispensaries 6,600 16,745 23,065 26,325

PHCs 725 9,115 22,842 25,308

Sub-centres - 84,736 1,37,311 53,655

CHCs - 761 3,043 5,396

Sources: National Commission on Macroeconomics and

Health, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,Government of India, New Delhi, 2005 ; National

Health Profile for various years available onwww.cbhidghs.nic.in.

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Box 8.5: Health System in India

India’s health infrastructure and health care is made up of a three-tier system—primary, secondary and tertiary. Primary health care includes educationconcerning prevailing health problems and methods of identifying, preventingand controlling them; promotion of food supply and proper nutrition andadequate supply of water and basic sanitation; maternal and child healthcare; immunisation against major infectious diseases and injuries; promotionof mental health and provision of essential drugs.

Auxiliary Nursing Midwife(ANM) is the first person whoprovides primary healthcare inrural areas. In order to provideprimary health care, hospitalshave been set up in villages andsmall towns which are generallymanned by a single doctor, anurse and a limited quantity ofmedicines. They are known asPrimary Health Centres (PHC),Community Health Centres(CHC) and sub-centres. Whenthe condition of a patient is notmanaged by PHCs, they arereferred to secondary or tertiary hospitals. Hospitals which have better facilitiesfor surgery, X-ray, Electro Cardio Gram (ECG) are called secondary health

care institutions. They function both as primary healthcare provider and also provide better healthcare facilities.They are mostly located in district headquarters and inbig towns. All those hospitals which have advanced levelequipment and medicines and undertake all thecomplicated health problems, which could not bemanaged by primary and secondary hospitals, comeunder the tertiary sector.

The tertiary sector also includes many premierinstitutes which not only impart quality medicaleducation and conduct research but also providespecialised health care. Some of them are — All India

Institute of Medical Science, New Delhi; Post Graduate Institute, Chandigarh;Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research,Pondicherry; National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangaloreand All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Kolkata.

Source: Report of the National Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, 2005.

Polio drops beinggiven to an infant

A health awareness meeting in progress

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Box 8.6: Medical Tourism — A great opportunity

You might have seen and heard on TV news or read in newspapers aboutforeigners flocking to India for surgeries, liver transplants, dental and evencosmetic care. Why? Because our health services combine the latest medicaltechnologies with qualified professionals and are cheaper for foreigners ascompared to costs of similar healthcare services in their own countries. In2016, as many as 2,01,000 foreigners visited India for medical treatment. Andthis figure is likely to increase by 15 per cent each year. Experts predict that by2020 India could earn more than 500 billion rupees through such ‘medicaltourism’. Health infrastructure can be upgraded to attract more foreignersto India.Sources : Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and www.grantthornton.in

construction and the provision ofmedical services. In 2001-02, therewere more than 13 lakh medicalenterprises employing 22 lakh people;more than 80 per cent of them are singleperson owned, and operated by oneperson occasionally employing a hiredworker. Scholars point out that theprivate sector in India has grownindependently without any majorregulation; some private practitionersare not even registered doctors and areknown as quacks.

Box 8.7: Community and Non-profit Organisations in Healthcare

One of the important aspects of a good healthcare system is communityparticipation. It functions with the idea that the people can be trained andinvolved in primary healthcare system. This method is already being used insome parts of our country. SEWA in Ahmedabad and ACCORD in the Nilgiriscould be the examples of some such NGOs working in India. Trade unions havebuilt alternative healthcare services for their members and also to givelow-cost healthcare to people from nearby villages. The most well-known andpioneering initiative in this regard has been Shahid Hospital, built in 1983and sustained by the workers of CMSS (Chhattisgarh Mines Shramik Sangh)in Durg, Madhya Pradesh. A few attempts have also been made by ruralorganisations to build alternative healthcare initiatives. One example is inThane, Maharashtra, where in the context of a tribal people’s organisation,Kashtakari Sangathan, trains women health workers at the village level totreat simple illnesses at minimal cost.

Since the 1990s, owing to

liberalisation measures, many

non-resident Indians and industrial

and pharmaceutical companies have set

up state-of-the-art super-specialty

hospitals to attract India’s rich and

medical tourists (see Box 8.6). Do you

think most people in India can get

access to such super -specialty

hospitals? Why not? What could be

done so that every person in India could

access a decent quality healthcare?

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Indian Systems of Medicine (ISM):It includes six systems — Ayurveda,Yoga, Unani, Siddha, Naturopathy andHomeopathy (AYUSH). At present,there are 3,167 ISM hospitals, 26,000dispensaries and as many as 7 lakhregistered practitioners in India.But little has been done to set up aframework to standardise education orto promote research. ISMs have hugepotential and can solve a large part ofour healthcare problems because theyare effective, safe and inexpensive.

Indicators of Health and HealthInfrastructure—A Critical Appraisal:As pointed out earlier, the health statusof a country can be assessed throughindicators, such as infant mortality andmaternal mortality rates, life expectancyand nutrition levels, along with theincidence of communicable andnon-communicable diseases. Some of thehealth indicators, and India’s position,

are given in Table 8.4. Scholars arguethat there is greater scope for the roleof government in the health sector. Forinstance, the table shows expenditureon health sector as 4.7 per cent of thetotal GDP. This is abysmally low ascompared to other countries, bothdeveloped and developing.

One study points out that Indiahas about 17 per cent of the world’spopulation but it bears a frightening20 per cent of the global burden ofdiseases (GBD). GBD is an indicatorused by experts to gauge the numberof people dying prematurely due to aparticular disease, as well as, thenumber of years spent by them in astate of ‘disability’ owing to the disease.

In India, more than half of GBD isaccounted for by communicable diseasessuch as diarrhoea, malaria andtuberculosis. Every year around five lakhchildren die of water-borne diseases. Thedanger of AIDS is also looming large.

TABLE 8.4

Indicators of Health in India in comparison with other Countries, 2014-2015

Indicators India China USA Sri Lanka

Infant Mortality Rate/1,000 live births 38 9 6 8

Under-5 mortality /1,000 live-births 48 11 7 10

Birth by skilled attendants (% of total) 74 100 99 99

Infants immunised (DTP) (%) 87 99 95 99

Health expenditure as % of GDP 4.7 5.6 17 3.5

Government health spending to 5 10.4 21.3 11.2total government spending (%)

Out of pocket expenditure as a % of 89 72 21.4 95private expenditure on health

Sources: World Health Statistics 2017 and www.worldbank.org

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Malnutrition and inadequate supply ofvaccines lead to the death of 2.2 millionchildren every year.

At present, less than 20 per cent ofthe population utilises public healthfacilities. One study has pointed outthat only 38 per cent of the PHCs havethe required number of doctors andonly 30 per cent of the PHCs havesufficient stock of medicines.

Urban-Rural and Poor-Rich Divide:Though 70 per cent of India’spopulation lives in rural areas, onlyone-fifth of its hospitals (includingprivate hospitals) are located in ruralareas. Rural India has only about halfthe number of dispensaries. Out ofabout 6.3 lakh beds in governmenthospitals, roughly 30 per cent areavailable in rural areas. Thus, people

Work These Out

Ø Visit a primary health centre located in your area or neighbourhood. Also,

collect the details of the number of private hospitals, medical laboratories,

scan centres, medical shops and other such facilities in your locality.

Ø Debate in the class on the topic — ‘Should we build an army of tais

(midwives) to take care of the poor, who cannot afford the services of the

thousands of medical graduates who pass out of our medical colleges

every year?’

Ø A study estimates that medical costs alone push down 2.2 per cent of the

population below the poverty line each year. How?

Ø Visit a few hospitals in your locality. Find out the number of children

receiving immunisation from them. Ask the hospital staff about the number

of children immunised 5 years ago. Discuss the details in class.

Ø Two students — Leena Talukdar (16) and Sushanta Mahanta (16) of Assam —

have developed a herbal mosquito repellent ‘jag’ using a few locally available

medicinal plants — paddy straw, husk and dried garbage. Their experiment

has been successful [Shodh Yatra (innovation), Yojana, September 2005].

If you know anyone whose innovative methods improve the health status of

people, or if you know someone who has a knowledge of medicinal plants

and heals the ailments of people, speak to them and bring them to the class

or collect information about why and how they treat ailments. Share this

with your class. You can also write to local newspapers or magazines.

Ø Do you think Indian cities could be provided with world-class health

infrastructure so that they will become attractive for medical tourists? Or

should the government concentrate on providing health infrastructure to

people in rural areas? What should be the priority of the government? Debate.

Ø Find out NGOs working in your area in the field of healthcare. Collect

information about their activities and invite them to discuss their activities

in your class.

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living in rural areas do not havesufficient medical infrastructure. Thishas led to differences in the health statusof people. As far as hospitals areconcerned, there are only 0.36 hospitalsfor every one lakh people in rural areas,while urban areas have 3.6 hospitals forthe same number of people. The PHCslocated in rural areas do not even offerX-ray or blood testing facilities, whichfor a city dweller, constitutes basichealthcare. States, like Bihar, MadhyaPradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh,are relatively lagging behind inhealthcare facilities. In rural areas, thepercentage of people who have no access

to proper healthcare facilities hasincreased over the last few years.

Villagers have no access toany specialised medical care, likepaediatrics, gynaecology, anaesthesiaand obstetrics. Even though 380recognised medical colleges produceabout 44,000 medical graduates everyyear, the shortage of doctors in ruralareas persists. While one-fifth of thesedoctor graduates leave the country forbetter monetary prospects, manyothers opt for private hospitals, whichare mostly located in urban areas.

The poorest 20 per cent of Indiansliving in both urban and rural areas

Fig. 8.10 Despite availing various healthcare measures, maternal health is a cause of concern

Work These Out

Ø The overall health status of the country has certainly improved through the

years. Life expectancy has gone up, infant mortality rate has come down.

Smallpox has been eradicated and the goal to eradicate leprosy and polio

looks achievable. But these statistics seem good only when you look at them

in isolation. Compare these with the rest of the world. You can get these

details from the World Health Report brought out by the World Health

Organization What do you find?

Ø Observe your class for a month and find out why some students remain

absent. If it is due to health problems, then find out what kind of medical

problems they had. Collect the details of the problem, the nature of treatment

they took and the amount of money their parents spent on their treatment.

Discuss the information in class.

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spend 12 per cent of their income onhealthcare, while the rich spend only2 per cent. What happens when thepoor fall sick? Many have to sell theirland or even pledge their children toafford treatment. Since government-runhospitals do not provide sufficientfacilities, the poor are driven to privatehospitals, which make them indebtedforever, else they opt to die.

Women’s Health: Women constituteabout half of the total population inIndia. They suffer many disadvantagesas compared to men in the areas ofeducation, participation in economicactivities and healthcare. Thedeterioration in the child sex ratioin the country from 927 in 2001 to914 in 2011 points to the growingincidence of female foeticide. Close to3,00,000 girls aged below 15 years arenot only married but have alreadyborne children at least once. More than50 per cent of married women in theage group of 15–49 years haveanaemia and nutritional anaemiacaused by iron deficiency, which hascontributed to 19 per cent of maternaldeaths. Abortions are also a majorcause of maternal morbidity andmortality in India.

Health is a vital public good and abasic human right. All citizens can getbetter health facilities if public healthservices are decentralised. Success inthe long-term battle against diseasesdepends on education and efficienthealth infrastructure. It is, therefore,critical to create awareness on healthand hygiene and provide efficientsystems. The role of telecom and ITsectors cannot be neglected in thisprocess. The effectiveness of healthcare

programmes also rests on primaryhealthcare. The ultimate goal shouldbe to help people move towards abetter quality of life. There is a sharpdivide between urban and ruralhealthcare in India. If we continue toignore this deepening divide, we runthe risk of destabilising the socio-economic fabric of our country. Inorder to provide basic healthcare to all,accessibility and affordability need tobe integrated in our basic healthinfrastructure.

8.7 CONCLUSION

Infrastructure, both economic andsocial, is essential for the development

of a country. As a support system, itdirectly influences all economicactivities by increasing the productivity

of the factors of production andimproving the quality of life. In the lastseven decades of Independence, India

has made considerable progress inbuilding infrastructure, nevertheless,its distribution is uneven. Many parts

of rural India are yet to get good roads,telecommunication facilities, electricity,schools and hospitals. As India moves

towards modernisation, the increase indemand for quality infrastrucutre,keeping in view their environmental

impact, will have to be addressed. Thereform policies by providing variousconcessions and incentives, aim at

attracting the private sector, in general,and foreign investors, in particular.While assessing the two infrastructure

— energy and health, it is clear thatthere is scope for equal access to

infrastructure for all.

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Recap

Ø Infrastructure is a network of physical facilities and public services

and with this social infrastructure is equally important to support it.It is an important base for economic development of the country.

Ø Infrastructure needs to be upgraded from time to time to maintain

high economic growth rate. Better infrastructural facilities haveattracted more foreign investments and tourists to India recently.

Ø It is important to develop rural infrastructural facilities.

Ø Public and private partnership is required to bring in huge funds for

infrastructural development.

Ø Energy is very vital for rapid economic growth. There is a big gap between

consumer demand and supply of electricity in India.

ØNon-conventional sources of energy can be of great support to meet

shortage of energy.

Ø The power sector is facing a number of problems at generation,

transmission and distribution levels.

Ø Health is a yardstick of human well-being, physical as well as mental.

Ø There has been significant expansion in physical provision of health

services and improvements in health indicators since independence.

Ø Public health system and facilities are not sufficient for the bulk of the

population.

Ø There is a wide gap between rural-urban areas and between poor and

rich in utilising health care facilities.

Ø Women’s health across the country has become a matter of great

concern with reports of increasing cases of female foeticide andmortality.

Ø Regulated private sector health services can improve the situation and,

at the same time, NGOs and community participation are veryimportant in providing health care facilities and spreading healthawareness.

Ø Natural systems of medicine have to be explored and used to support

public health. There is a great scope of advancement of medical tourismin India.

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159INFRASTRUCUTRE

1. Explain the term ‘infrastructure’.

2. Explain the two categories into which infrastructure is divided. Howare both interdependent?

3. How do infrastructure facilities boost production?

4. Infrastructure contributes to the economic development of a country.Do you agree? Explain.

5. What is the state of rural infrastructure in India?

6. What is the significance of ‘energy’? Differentiate between commercialand non-commercial sources of energy.

7. What are the three basic sources of generating power?

8. What do you mean by transmission and distribution losses? How canthey be reduced?

9. What are the various non-commercial sources of energy?

10. Justify that energy crisis can be overcome with the use of renewablesources of energy.

11. How has the consumption pattern of energy changed over the years?

12. How are the rates of consumption of energy and economic growthconnected?

13. What problems are being faced by the power sector in India?

14. Discuss the reforms which have been initiated recently to meet theenergy crisis in India.

15. What are the main characteristics of health of the people of ourcountry?

16. What is a ‘global burden of disease’?

17. Discuss the main drawbacks of our health care system.

18. How has women’s health become a matter of great concern?

19. Describe the meaning of public health. Discuss the major public healthmeasures undertaken by the state in recent years to control diseases.

20. Differentiate the six systems of Indian medicine.

21. How can we increase the effectiveness of health care programmes?

EXERCISES

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1. Did you know that to bring a megawatt of electricity to your homes,30-40 million rupees are spent? Building a new power plant wouldcost millions. Isn’t this reason enough for you to begin conservingenergy in your house? Electricity saved is money saved; in fact, it isworth much more than electricity generated. Every time yourelectricity bill reaches home, you realise there is no need for so manylights and fans around you. All you have to do is be slightly morealert and careful. And the best thing is, you can start right away.Involve the rest of your family in this effort and see the difference.Note down the monthly consumption of electricity in your house. Seethe difference in the bill amount after you apply energy saving tactics.

2. Find out what infrastructure projects are in progress in your area.

Then, find out

(i) The budget allotted for the project.

(ii) The sources of its financing.

(iii) How much employment will it generate?

(iv) What will be the overall benefits after its completion?

(v) How long will it take to be completed?

(vi) Company/companies engaged in the project.

3. Visit any nearby thermal power station/hydro-power station/nuclearpower plant. Observe how these plants work.

4. The class can be divided into groups to make a survey of energy usein their neighbourhood. The aim of the survey should be to find outwhich particular fuel is most used in the neighbourhood and thequantity in which it is used. Graphs can be made by the differentgroups and compared to find out possible reason for preference ofone particular fuel.

5. Study the life and work of Dr Homi Bhaba, the architect of modernIndia’s energy establishments.

6. Hold a classroom discussion or debate on — ‘warring nations makefor an unhealthy world, so do warped attitudes and closed mindsmake for mental ill-health’.

Books

JALAN, BIMAL (Ed.). The Indian Economy — Problems and Prospects. PenguinBooks, Delhi, 1993.


REFERENCES

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KALAM, A.P.J. ABDUL WITH Y.S. RAJAN. 2002. India 2020: A Vision for the New

Millennium. Penguin Books, Delhi.

PARIKH, KIRIT S. AND RADHAKRISHNA (Eds.). 2005. India Development Report

2004-05. Oxford University Press, Delhi.

Government Reports

Energy Statistics 2016, Ministry of Statistics and ProgrammeImplementation, Government of India.

The World Health Report 2002. Reducing Risks, Promoting Healthy Life,World Health Organisation, Geneva.

Report of the National Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, Ministry

of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, New Delhi, 2005.

Tenth Five Year Plan, Vol.2, Planning Commission, Government of India,New Delhi.

The India Infrastructure Report: Policy Imperatives for Growth and Welfare

1996. Expert Group on the Commercialisaton of Infrastructure Projects.Vols.1, 2 and 3 Ministry of Finance. Government of India, New Delhi.

World Development Report 2004. The World Bank, Washington DC.

India Infrastructure Report 2004. Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

Economic Survey 2004-2005. Ministry of Finance, Government of India.

World Development Indicators, 2013, The World Bank, Washington.

World Health Statistics 2014, World Health Organisation, Geneva.

National Health Profile (NHP) of India for various years, Central Bureau

of Health Intelligence, Goverment of India, New Delhi.

Websites

On energy related issues:www.pcra.orgwww.bee-india.comwww.edugreen.teri.res.inhttp://powermin.nic.in

On health related issues:

http://www.aiims.eduhttp://www.whoindia.orghttp://mohfw.nic.inwww.apollohospitalsgroup.comwww.worldbank.orgwww.cbhidghs.nic.in

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• understand the concept of environment

• analyse the causes and effects of ‘environmental degradation’ and ‘resource

depletion’

• understand the nature of environmental challenges facing India

• relate environmental issues to the larger context of sustainable

development.

ENVIRONMENT AND

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

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163ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

9.1 INTRODUCTION

In the earlier chapters we havediscussed the main economic issuesfaced by the Indian economy. Theeconomic development that we haveachieved so far has come at a very heavyprice —at the cost of environmentalquality. As we step into an era ofglobalisation that promises highereconomic growth, we have to bear inmind the adverse consequences of thepast development path on ourenvironment and consciously choose apath of sustainable development. Tounderstand the unsustainable path ofdevelopment that we have taken andthe challenges of sustainabledevelopment, we have to firstunderstand the significance andcontribution of environment toeconomic development. With this inmind, this chapter is divided into threesections. The first part deals with thefunctions and role of environment. Thesecond section discusses the state ofIndia’s environment and the thirdsection deals with steps and strategiesto achieve sustainable development.

9.2 ENVIRONMENT — DEFINITION AND

FUNCTIONS

Environment is defined as the totalplanetary inheritance and the totalityof all resources. It includes all the biotic

and abiotic factors that influence eachother. While all living elements —thebirds, animals and plants, forests,fisheries etc.—are biotic elements,abiotic elements include air, water, landetc. Rocks and sunlight are allexamples of abiotic elements of theenvironment. A study of the environmentthen calls for a study of the inter-relationship between these biotic andabiotic components of the environment.

Functions of the Environment: Theenvironment performs four vitalfunctions (i) it supplies resources:resources here include both renewableand non-renewable resources.Renewable resources are those whichcan be used without the possibility ofthe resource becoming depleted orexhausted. That is, a continuoussupply of the resource remainsavailable. Examples of renewableresources are the trees in the forests andthe fishes in the ocean. Non-renewableresources, on the other hand, are thosewhich get exhausted with extractionand use, for example, fossil fuel (ii) itassimilates waste (iii) it sustains life byproviding genetic and bio diversity and(iv) it also provides aesthetic serviceslike scenery etc.

The environment is able to performthese functions without any interruptionas long as the demand on these

The environment, left to itself, can continue to support life for millions ofyears. The single most unstable and potentially disruptive element in thescheme is the human species. Human beings, with modern technology, havethe capacity to bring about, intentionally or unintentionally, far-reachingand irreversible changes in the enviornment.

Anonymous

2018-19


Work These Out

Why has water become an economic commodity? Discuss.

Fill in the following table with some common types of diseases and illnesses

that are caused due to air, water and noise pollution.

functions is within its carryingcapacity. This implies that the resourceextraction is not above the rate ofregeneration of the resource and thewastes generated are within theassimilating capacity of theenvironment. When this is not so, theenvironment fails to perform its thirdand vital function of life sustenance and

this results in anenvironmental crisis. Thisis the situation todayall over the world. Therising population of thedeveloping countries andthe affluent consumptionand production standardsof the developed world haveplaced a huge stress on theenvironment in terms of itsfirst two functions. Manyresources have becomeextinct and the wastesgenerated are beyond theabsorptive capacity of theenvironment. Absorptivecapacity means the abilityof the environment to

absorb degradation. The result — weare today at the threshold ofenvironmental crisis. The pastdevelopment has polluted and dried uprivers and other aquifers making wateran economic good. Besides, theintensive and extensive extraction ofboth renewable and non-renewableresources has exhausted some of these

Air Pollution Water Pollution Noise Pollution

Asthma Cholera

Fig. 9.1 Water bodies: small, snow-fed Himalayan streams are

the few fresh-water sources that remain unpolluted.

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vital resources and we are compelledto spend huge amounts on technologyand research to explore new resources.Added to these are the health costs ofdegraded environmental quality —decline in air and water quality (seventyper cent of water in India is polluted)have resulted in increased incidence ofrespiratory and water-borne diseases.Hence the expenditure on health is alsorising. To make matters worse, globalenvironmental issues such as globalwarming and ozone depletion alsocontribute to increased financialcommitments for the government.

Box 9.1: Global Warming

Global warming is a gradual increase in the average temperature of the earth’slower atmosphere as a result of the increase in greenhouse gases since theIndustrial Revolution. Much of the recent observed and projected globalwarming is human-induced. It is caused by man-made increases in carbondioxide and other greenhouse gases through the burning of fossil fuels anddeforestation. Adding carbon dioxide, methane and such other gases (thathave the potential to absorb heat) to the atmosphere with no other changeswill make our planet’s surface warmer. The atmospheric concentrations ofcarbon dioxide and CH

4 have increased by 31 per cent and 149 per cent

respectively above pre-industrial levels since 1750. During the past century,the atmospheric temperature has risen by 1.1°F (0.6°C) and sea level hasrisen several inches. Some of the longer-term results of global warming aremelting of polar ice with a resulting rise in sea level and coastal flooding;disruption of drinking water supplies dependent on snow melts; extinction ofspecies as ecological niches disappear; more frequent tropical storms; and anincreased incidence of tropical diseases.

Among factors that may be contributing to global warming are the burningof coal and petroleum products (sources of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrousoxide, ozone); deforestation, which increases the amount of carbon dioxide inthe atmosphere; methane gas released in animal waste; and increased cattleproduction, which contributes to deforestation, methane production, and useof fossil fuels. A UN Conference on Climate Change, held in Kyoto, Japan, in1997, resulted in an international agreement to fight global warming whichcalled for reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases by industrialised nations.

Source: www.wikipedia.org

Thus, it is clear that the opportunitycosts of negative environmentalimpacts are high.

The biggest question that arises is:are environmental problems new to thiscentury? If so, why? The answer to thisquestion requires some elaboration. Inthe early days when civilisation justbegan, or before this phenomenalincrease in population, and beforecountries took to industrialisation, thedemand for environmental resourcesand services was much less than theirsupply. This meant that pollution waswithin the absorptive capacity of the

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Box 9.2: Ozone Depletion

Ozone depletion refers to the phenomenon of reductions in the amount of ozonein the stratosphere. The problem of ozone depletion is caused by high levelsof chlorine and bromine compounds in the stratosphere. The origins of thesecompounds are chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), used as cooling substances in air-conditioners and refrigerators, or as aerosol propellants, andbromofluorocarbons (halons), used in fire extinguishers. As a result of depletionof the ozone layer, more ultraviolet (UV) radiation comes to Earth and causesdamage to living organisms. UV radiation seems responsible for skin cancerin humans; it also lowers production of phytoplankton and thus affects otheraquatic organisms. It can also influence the growth of terrestrial plants. Areduction of approximately 5 per cent in the ozone layer was detected from1979 to 1990. Since the ozone layer prevents most harmful wavelengths ofultraviolet light from passing through the Earth’s atmosphere, observed andprojected decreases in ozone have generated worldwide concern. This led tothe adoption of the Montreal Protocol banning the use of chlorofluorocarbon(CFC) compounds, as well as other ozone depleting chemicals such as carbontetrachloride, trichloroethane (also known as methyl chloroform), and brominecompounds known as halons.

Source: www.ceu.hu

environment and the rate of resourceextraction was less than the rate ofregeneration of these resources. Henceenvironmental problems did not arise.

But with population explosion and withthe advent of industrial revolutionto meet the growing needs of theexpanding population, things

changed. The result was that thedemand for resources for bothproduction and consumptionwent beyond the rate ofregeneration of the resources; thepressure on the absorptivecapacity of the environmentincreased tremendously — thistrend continues even today. Thuswhat has happened is a reversalof supply-demand relationshipfor environmental quality — weare now faced with increaseddemand for environmentalresources and services but theirsupply is limited due to overuse

Fig. 9.2 Damodar Valley is one of India’s most

industrialised regions. Pollutants from the heavyindustries along the banks of the Damodar river

are converting it into an ecological disaster

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and misuse. Hencethe environmentalissues of wastegeneration andpollution havebecome criticaltoday.

9.3 STATE OF INDIA’SENVIRONMENT

India has abundantnatural resources interms of rich qualityof soil, hundreds ofrivers and tributaries,lush green forests,plenty of mineraldeposits beneath the land surface, vaststretch of the Indian Ocean, ranges ofmountains, etc. The black soil of theDeccan Plateau is particularly suitablefor cultivation of cotton, leading toconcentration of textile industries in thisregion. The Indo-Gangetic plains —spread from the Arabian Sea to the Bayof Bengal — are one of the most fertile,intensively cultivated and denselypopulated regions in the world. India’sforests, though unevenly distributed,provide green cover for a majority of itspopulation and natural cover for itswildlife. Large deposits of iron-ore, coaland natural gas are found in thecountry. India alone accounts fornearly 20 per cent of the world’s totaliron-ore reserves. Bauxite, copper,chromate, diamonds, gold, lead, lignite,manganese, zinc, uranium, etc. are alsoavailable in different parts of thecountry. However, the developmentalactivities in India have resulted in

pressure on its finite natural

resources, besides creating impacts on

human health and well-being. The

threat to India’s environment poses a

dichotomy—threat of poverty-induced

environmental degradation and, at the

same time, threat of pollution from

affluence and a rapidly growing

industrial sector. Air pollution,

water contamination, soil erosion,

deforestation and wildlife extinction

are some of the most pressing

environmental concerns of India. The

priority issues identified are (i) land

degradation (ii) biodiversity loss (iii) air

pollution with special reference to

vehicular pollution in urban cities (iv)

management of fresh water and (v) solid

waste management. Land in India

suffers from varying degrees and types

of degradation stemming mainly from

unstable use and inappropriate

management practices.

Fig. 9.3 Deforestation leads to land degradation, biodiversity loss andair pollution

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Box. 9.3: Chipko or Appiko — What’s in a Name?

You may be aware of the Chipko Movement, which aimed at protecting forestsin the Himalayas. In Karnataka, a similar movement took a different name,‘Appiko’, which means to hug. On 8 September 1983, when the felling of treeswas started in Salkani forest in Sirsidistrict, 160 men, women and childrenhugged the trees and forced thewoodcutters to leave. They kept vigil inthe forest over the next six weeks. Onlyafter the forest officials assured thevolunteers that the trees will be cutscientifically and in accordance with theworking plan of the district, did theyleave the trees.

When commercial felling bycontractors damaged a large number ofnatural forests, the idea of hugging thetrees gave the people hope andconfidence that they can protect theforests. On that particular incident, withthe felling discontinued, the people saved12,000 trees. Within months, thismovement spread to many adjoiningdistricts.

Indiscriminate felling of trees forfuelwood and for industrial use has led to many environmental problems.Twelve years after setting up of a paper mill in Uttar Kanara area, bamboohas been wiped out from that area. “Broad-leaved trees which protected thesoil from the direct onslaught of rain have been removed, the soil washedaway, and bare laterite soil left behind. Now nothing grows but a weed”, saysa farmer. Farmers also complain that rivers and rivulets dry up quicker, andthat rainfall is becoming erratic. Diseases and insects earlier unknown arenow attacking the crops.

Appiko volunteers want the contractors and forest officials to follow certainrules and restrictions. For instance, local people should be consulted whentrees are marked for felling and trees within 100 metres of a water sourceand on a slope of 30 degrees or above should not be felled.

Do you know that the government allocates forestlands to industries touse forest materials as industrial raw material? Even if a paper mill employs10,000 workers and a plywood factory employs 800 people but if they deprivethe daily needs of a million people, is it acceptable? What do you think?

Source: Excerpts from ‘State of India’s Environment 2: The Second Citizens’ Report 1984-85’,

Centre for Science and Environment, 1996, New Delhi.

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Work These Out

In order to enable the students to appreciate the contribution of environment

to economic development, the following game can be introduced. One studentmay name a product used by any enterprise and the other student maytrace out its roots to nature and earth.

trucks steel and rubbersteel iron mineral earthrubber trees forests earthbooks paper trees forest earthcloth cotton plant naturepetrol earthmachinery iron mineral earth

A truck driver had to pay Rs 1,000 as challan as his truck was emitting

black soot. Why do you think he was penalised? Was it justified? Discuss.

Some of the factors responsiblefor land degradation are (i) lossof vegetation occuring due todeforestation (ii) unsustainable fuelwood and fodder extraction (iii) shiftingcultivation (iv) encroachment into forestlands (v) forest fires and over grazing(vi) non-adoption of adequate soilconservation measures (vii) impropercrop rotation (viii) indiscriminate use ofagro-chemicals such as fertilisers andpesticides (ix) improper planning andmanagement of irrigation systems(x) extraction of ground water in

the competing uses of land forforestry, agriculture, pastures, humansettlements and industries exert anenormous pressure on the country’sfinite land resources.

The per capita forest land in thecountry is only 0.08 hectare againstthe requirement of 0.47 hectare to meetbasic needs, resulting in an excessfelling of about 15 million cubic metreforests over the permissible limit.

Estimates of soil erosion show thatsoil is being eroded at a rate of 5.3billion tonnes a year for the entire

excess of the recharge capacity (xi)open access resource and (xii) povertyof the agriculture-dependent people.

India supports approximately 17per cent of the world’s human and 20per cent of livestock population on amere 2.5 per cent of the world’sgeographical area. The high densityof population and livestock and

country as a result of which thecountry loses 0.8 million tonnes ofnitrogen, 1.8 million tonnes ofphosphorus and 26.3 million tonnesof potassium every year. According tothe Government of India, the quantityof nutrients lost due to erosion eachyear ranges from 5.8 to 8.4 milliontonnes.

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Box 9.4 : Pollution Control Boards

In order to address two major environmental concerns in India, viz. water andair pollution, the government set up the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)in 1974. This was followed by states establishing their own state level boardsto address all the environmental concerns. They investigate, collect anddisseminate information relating to water, air and land pollution, lay downstandards for sewage/trade effluent and emissions. These boards providetechnical assistance to governments in promoting cleanliness of streams andwells by prevention, control and abatement of water pollution, and improvethe quality of air and to prevent, control or abate air pollution in the country.

These boards also carry out and sponsor investigation and researchrelating to problems of water and air pollution and for their prevention, controlor abatement. They also organise, through mass media, a comprehensive massawareness programme for the same. The PCBs prepare manuals, codes andguidelines relating to treatment and disposal of sewage and trade effluents.

They assess the air quality through regulation of industries. In fact, stateboards, through their district level officials, periodically inspect every industryunder their jurisdiction to assess the adequacy of treatment measures providedto treat the effluent and gaseous emissions. It also provides background airquality data needed for industrial siting and town planning.

The pollution control boards collect, collate and disseminate technical andstatistical data relating to water pollution. They monitor the quality of waterin 125 rivers (including the tributaries), wells, lakes, creeks, ponds, tanks,drains and canals.

Visit a nearby factory/irrigation department and collect the details of

measures that they adopt to control water and air pollution.

You might be seeing advertisements in newspapers, radio and television

or billboards in your locality on awareness programmes relating to waterand air pollution. Collect a few news-clippings, pamphlets and other

information and discuss them in the classroom.

In India, air pollution is widespreadin urban areas where vehicles are themajor contributors and in a few otherareas which have a high concentrationof industries and thermal power plants.Vehicular emissions are of particularconcern since these are ground levelsources and, thus, have the maximumimpact on the general population. Thenumber of motor vehicles has increasedfrom about 3 lakh in 1951 to 67 croresin 2003. In 2003, personal transport

vehicles (two-wheeled vehicles and carsonly) constituted about 80 per cent ofthe total number of registered vehiclesthus contributing significantly to totalair pollution load.

India is one of the ten mostindustrialised nations of the world.But this status has brought withit unwanted and unanticipatedconsequences such as unplannedurbanisation, pollution and the risk ofaccidents. The CPCB (Central Pollution

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Control Board) has identified seventeencategories of industries (largeand medium scale) as significantlypolluting.

allow all future generations to have a

potential average quality of life that isat least as high as that which is beingenjoyed by the current generation. The

concept of sustainable developmentwas emphasised by the United NationsConference on Environment and

Development (UNCED), which definedit as: ‘Development that meets the needof the present generation without

compromising the ability of the futuregeneration to meet their own needs’.

Read the definition again. You will

notice that the term ‘need’ and thephrase ‘future generations’ in thedefinition are the catch phrases. The

use of the concept ‘needs’ in thedefinition is linked to distribution ofresources. The seminal report—Our

Common Future—that gave the abovedefinition explained sustainabledevelopment as ‘meeting the basic

needs of all and extending to all theopportunity to satisfy their aspirationsfor a better life’. Meeting the needs of

all requires redistributing resourcesand is hence a moral issue.Edward Barbier defined sustainable

development as one which is directlyconcerned with increasing the materialstandard of living of the poor at

the grass root level — this can bequantitatively measured in terms ofincreased income, real income,

educational services, health care,sanitation, water supply etc. In morespecific terms, sustainable development

aims at decreasing the absolute povertyof the poor by providing lasting andsecure livelihoods that minimise

resource depletion, environmental

The above points highlight thechallenges to India’s environment. Thevarious measures adopted by theMinistry of Environment and thecentral and state pollution controlboards may not yield reward unlesswe consciously adopt a path ofsustainable development. The concernfor future generations alone can makedevelopment last forever. Developmentto enhance our current living styles,without concern for posterity, willdeplete resources and degradeenvironment at a pace that is bound toresult in both environmental andeconomic crisis.

9.4. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Environment and economy areinterdependent and need each other.Hence, development that ignores itsrepercussions on the environment willdestroy the environment that sustainslife forms. What is needed is sustainabledevelopment: development that will

Work This Out

You can see a column on the

measure of air pollution inany national daily. Cut outthe news item a week beforeDiwali, on the day of Diwaliand two days after Diwali.Do you observe a significantdifference in the value?Discuss in your class.

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degradation, cultural disruption andsocial instability. Sustainabledevelopment is, in this sense, a

development that meets the basic needsof all, particularly the poor majority, foremployment, food, energy, water,

housing, and ensures growth ofagriculture, manufacturing, power andservices to meet these needs.

The Brundtland Commissionemphasises on protecting the futuregeneration. This is in line with the

argument of the environmentalists whoemphasise that we have a moralobligation to hand over the planet earth

in good order to the future generation;that is, the present generation shouldbequeath a better environment to the

future generation. At least we shouldleave to the next generation a stock of‘quality of life’ assets no less than what

we have inherited.The present generation can

promote development that enhances

the natural and built environment inways that are compatible with(i) conservation of natural assets

(ii) preservation of the regenerativecapacity of the world’s naturalecological system (iii) avoiding the

imposition of added costs or risks onfuture generations.

According to Herman Daly, a leading

environmental economist, to achievesustainable development, the followingneeds to be done (i) limiting the human

population to a level within the carryingcapacity of the environment. The carryingcapacity of the environment is like a

‘plimsoll line’ of the ship which is its loadlimit mark. In the absence of the plimsoll

line for the economy, human scale growsbeyond the carrying capacity of the earthand deviates from sustainabledevelopment (ii) technological progressshould be input efficient and not inputconsuming (iii) renewable resourcesshould be extracted on a sustainablebasis, that is, rate of extraction shouldnot exceed rate of regeneration (iv) fornon-renewable resources rate of depletionshould not exceed the rate of creationof renewable substitutes and(v) inefficiencies arising from pollutionshould be corrected.

9.5 STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT

Use of Non-conventional Sources ofEnergy: India, as you know, is hugelydependent on thermal and hydropower plants to meet its powerneeds. Both of these have adverseenvironmental impacts. Thermal powerplants emit large quantities of carbondioxide which is a green house gas. Italso produces fly ash which, if not usedproperly, can cause pollution of waterbodies, land and other components ofthe environment. Hydroelectric projectsinundate forests and interfere with thenatural flow of water in catchmentareas and the river basins. Wind powerand solar rays are good examples ofconventional but cleaner and greenerenergy sources but are not yet beenexplored on a large scale due to lack oftechnological devices.

LPG, Gobar Gas in Rural Areas:Households in rural areas generally usewood, dung cake or other biomass as

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fuel. This practice has several adverseimplications like deforestation,reduction in green cover, wastage ofcattle dung and air pollution. To rectifythe situation, subsidised LPG is beingprovided. In addition, gobar gas plantsare being provided through easy loansand subsidy. As far as liquefiedpetroleum gas (LPG) is concerned, it isa clean fuel — it reduces householdpollution to a large extent. Also, energywastage is minimised. For the gobargas plant to function, cattle dung is fedto the plant and gas is produced whichis used as fuel while the slurry whichis left over is a very good organicfertiliser and soil conditioner.

CNG in Urban Areas: In Delhi, the use ofCompressed Natural Gas (CNG) as fuel inpublic transport system has significantlylowered air pollution and the air hasbecome cleaner in the last few years.

Wind Power: In areas where speed ofwind is usually high, wind mills canprovide electricity without any adverseimpact on the environment. Windturbines move with the wind andelectricity is generated. No doubt, theinitial cost is high. But the benefits aresuch that the high cost gets easilyabsorbed.

Work This Out

In Delhi buses and other

public transport vehiclesuse CNG as fuel instead ofpetrol or diesel; somevehicles use convertibleengines; solar energy isbeing used to light up thestreets. What do you thinkabout these changes?Organise a debate in classon the need for sustainabledevelopment in India.

Fig.9.4 Gobar Gas Plant uses cattle dung to produce energy

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Solar Power through PhotovoltaicCells: India is naturally endowed witha large quantity of solar energy in theform of sunlight. We use it in differentways. For example, we dry our clothes,grains, other agricultural products aswell as various items made for daily use.We also use sunlight to warm ourselvesin winter. Plants use solar energy toperform photosynthesis. Now, with thehelp of photovoltaic cells, solar energycan be converted into electricity. Thesecells use special kind of materials tocapture solar energy and then convertthe energy into electricity. Thistechnology is extremely useful for remoteareas and for places where supply ofpower through grid or power lines iseither not possible or proves very costly.This technique is also totally free frompollution.

Mini-hydel Plants: In mountainousregions, streams can be found almosteverywhere. A large percentage of suchstreams are perennial. Mini-hydelplants use the energy of such streamsto move small turbines. The turbinesgenerate electricity which can be usedlocally. Such power plants are more orless environment-friendly as they do notchange the land use pattern in areaswhere they are located; they generateenough power to meet local demands.This means that they can also do awaywith the need for large scaletransmission towers and cables andavoid transmission loss.

Traditional Knowledge andPractices: Traditionally, Indian peoplehave been close to their environment.

They have been more a component ofthe environment and not its controller.If we look back at our agriculturesystem, healthcare system, housing,transport etc., we find that all practiceshave been environment friendly. Onlyrecently have we drifted away from thetraditional systems and caused largescale damage to the environment andalso our rural heritage. Now, it is timeto go back. One apt example is inhealthcare. India is very muchprivileged to have about 15,000 speciesof plants which have medicinalproperties. About 8,000 of these are inregular use in various systems oftreatment including the folk tradition.With the sudden onslaught of thewestern system of treatment, we wereignoring our traditional systems suchas Ayurveda, Unani, Tibetan and folksystems. These healthcare systems arein great demand again for treatingchronic health problems. Now a daysevery cosmetic produce — hair oil,toothpaste, body lotion, face cream andwhat not — is herbal in composition.Not only are these products environmentfriendly, they are relatively free from sideeffects and do not involve large-scaleindustrial and chemical processing.

Biocomposting: In our quest toincrease agricultural productionduring the last five decades or so, wealmost totally neglected the use ofcompost and completely switched overto chemical fertilisers. The result is thatlarge tracts of productive land havebeen adversely affected, water bodiesincluding ground water system havesuffered due to chemical contamination

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and demand for irrigation has beengoing up year after year.

Farmers, in large numbers all overthe country, have again started usingcompost made from organic wastes ofdifferent types. In certain parts of thecountry, cattle are maintained onlybecause they produce dung which isan important fertiliser and soilconditioner.

Earthworms can convert organicmatter into compost faster than thenormal composting process. Thisprocess is now being widely used.Indirectly, the civic authorities arebenefited too as they have to disposereduced quantity of waste.

Biopest Control: With the advent ofgreen revolution, the entire countryentered into a frenzy to use more andmore chemical pesticides for higheryield. Soon, the adverse impacts beganto show; food products werecontaminated, soil, water bodies andeven ground water were polluted withpesticides. Even milk, meat and fisheswere found to be contaminated.

To meet this challenge, efforts areon to bring in better methods of pestcontrol. One such step is the use ofpesticides based on plant products.Neem trees are proving to be quiteuseful. Several types of pest controllingchemicals have been isolated from neemand these are being used. Mixedcropping and growing different cropsin consecutive years on the same landhave also helped farmers.

In addition, awareness is spreadingabout various animals and birds which

help in controlling pests. For example,snakes are one of the prime group ofanimals which prey upon rats, mice andvarious other pests. Similarly, largevarieties of birds, for example, owls andpeacocks, prey upon vermin and pests.If these are allowed to dwell around theagricultural areas, they can clear largevarieties of pests including insects.Lizards are also important in thisregard. We need to know their value andsave them.

Sustainable development hasbecome a catch phrase today. It is‘indeed’ a paradigm shift indevelopment thinking. Though it hasbeen interpreted in a number of ways,adherence to this path ensures lastingdevelopment and non-declining welfarefor all.

9.6 CONCLUSION

Economic development, which aimed atincreasing the production of goods andservices to meet the needs of a risingpopulation, puts greater pressure onthe environment. In the initial stagesof development, the demand forenvironmental resources was less thanthat of supply. Now the world isfaced with increased demand forenvironmental resources but theirsupply is limited due to overuse andmisuse. Sustainable development aimsat promoting the kind of developmentthat minimises environmental problemsand meets the needs of the presentgeneration without compromising theability of the future generation to meettheir own needs.

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1. What is meant by environment?

2. What happens when the rate of resource extraction exceeds that oftheir regeneration?

3. Classify the following into renewable and non-renewable resources(i) trees (ii) fish (iii) petroleum (iv) coal (v) iron-ore (vi) water.

4. Two major environmental issues facing the world today are ____________and _____________.

5. How do the following factors contribute to the environmental crisisin India? What problem do they pose for the government?

(i) Rising population(ii) Air pollution

EXERCISES

Recap

Environment performs four functions: supplies resources, assimilateswastes, sustains life by providing genetic and bio diversity and providesaesthetic services.

Population explosion, affluent consumption and production have placeda huge stress on the environment.

Developmental activities in India have put immense pressure on its finitenatural resources, besides creating impact on human health andwell-being.

The threat to India’s environment is of two dimensions —threat of povertyinduced environmental degradation and the threat of pollution fromaffluence and a rapidly growing industrial sector.

Though the government, through various measures, attempts to safeguardthe environment, it is also necessary to adopt a path of sustainabledevelopment.

Sustainable development is development that meets the need of the presentgeneration without compromising the ability of the future generation tomeet their own needs.

Promotion of natural resources, conservation, preserving regenerativecapacity of ecological system and avoiding the imposition of environmentalrisks on future generations would lead to sustainable development.

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(iii) Water contamination(iv) Affluent consumption standards(v) Illiteracy

(vi) Industrialisation(vii) Urbanisation

(viii) Reduction of forest coverage(ix) Poaching(x) Global warming.

6. What are the functions of the environment?

7. Identify six factors contributing to land degradation in India.

8. Explain how the opportunity costs of negative environmental impactare high.

9. Outline the steps involved in attaining sustainable development in India.

10. India has abundant natural resources —substantiate the statement.

11. Is environmental crisis a recent phenomenon? If so, why?

12. Give two instances of

(a) Overuse of environmental resources(b) Misuse of environmental resources.

13. State any four pressing environmental concerns of India. Correctionfor environmental damages involves opportunity costs — explain.

14. Explain the supply-demand reversal of environmental resources.

15. Account for the current environmental crisis.

16. Highlight any two serious adverse environmental consequences ofdevelopment in India. India’s environmental problems pose a dichotomy— they are poverty induced and, at the same time, due to affluence inliving standards — is this true?

17. What is sustainable development?

18. Keeping in view your locality, describe any four strategies of sustainabledevelopment.

19. Explain the relevance of intergenerational equity in the definition ofsustainable development.

1. Suppose 70 lakh cars are added every year to the roads of metropolitans.Which type of resources do you think are undergoing depletion? Discuss.

2. Make a list of items that can be recycled.


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3. Prepare a chart on the causes and remedies of soil erosion in India.

4. How does population explosion contribute to the environmental crisis?Debate in the classroom.

5. The nation has to pay heavily for correcting environmental damages —discuss.

6. A paper factory is to be set up in your village. Arrange a role playconsisting of an activist, an industrialist and a group of villagers.

BOOKS

AGARWAL, ANIL and SUNITA NARAIN. 1996. Global Warming in an Unequal World.Centre for Science and Environment, Reprint Edition, New Delhi.

BHARUCHA, E. 2005. Textbook of Environmental Studies for UndergraduateCourses, Universities Press (India) Pvt Ltd.

CENTRE FOR SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT. 1996. State of India’s Environment1: The First Citizens’ Report 1982. Reprint Edition, New Delhi.

CENTRE FOR SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT. 1996. State of India’s Environment 2: The Second Citizens’ Report 1985, Reprint Edition, New Delhi.

KARPAGAM, M. 2001.Environmental Economics: A Textbook. Sterling Publishers,New Delhi.

RAJAGOPALAN, R. 2005. Environmental Studies: From Crisis to Cure. OxfordUniversity Press, New Delhi.

SCHUMACHER, E.F. Small is Beautiful. Abacus Publishers, New York.

Reports

State of India’s Environment (for various years), Centre for Science andEnvironment, New Delhi.

Journals

Scientific American, India, Special Issue, September 2005Down to Earth, Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi.

Websites

http://envfor.nic.inhttp://cpcb.nic.inhttp://www.cseindia.org

REFERENCES

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DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCES OF INDIA: A COMPARISON

WITH NEIGHBOURS

UNIT

IIIUNIT

IV

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In today’s globalised world, where geographical

boundaries are slowly becoming meaningless, it

is important for neighbouring countries in the

developing world to understand the development

strategies being pursued by their neighbours. This

is more so because they share the relatively limited

economic space in world markets. In this unit, we

will compare India’s developmental experiences

with two of its important and strategic neighbours

— Pakistan and China.

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• figure out comparative trends in various economic and humandevelopment indicators of India and its neighbours, China and Pakistan

• assess the strategies that these countries have adopted to reach theirpresent state of development.

COMPARATIVE

DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCES OF INDIA

AND ITS NEIGHBOURS

10

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10.1 INTRODUCTION

In the preceding units we studied thedevelopmental experience of India indetail. We also studied the kind ofpolicies India adopted, which hadvarying impacts in different sectors.Over the last two decades or so, theeconomic transformation that is takingplace in different countries across theworld, partly because of the processof globalisation, has both short aswell as long-term implications foreach country, including India. Nationshave been primarily trying to adoptvarious means which will strengthentheir own domestic economies. To thiseffect, they are forming regional andglobal economic groupings such asthe SAARC, European Union,ASEAN, G-8, G-20, BRICS etc. Inaddition, there is also an increasingeagerness on the parts of variousnations to try and understand thedevelopmental processes pursued bytheir neighbouring nations as itallows them to better comprehendtheir own strengths and weaknessesvis-à-vis their neighbours. In theunfolding process of globalisation,this is particularly consideredessential by developing countries asthey face competition not only fromdeveloped nations but also amongstthemselves in the relatively limitedeconomic space enjoyed by thedeveloping world. Besides, an

understanding of the other economiesin our neighbourhood is also requiredas all major common economicactivities in the region impinge onoverall human development in ashared environment.

In this chapter we will compare thedevelopmental strategies pursued byIndia and the largest two of itsneighbouring economies—Pakistanand China. It has to be rememberedthat despite being endowed with vastnatural resources, there is littlesimilarity between the political powersetup of India - the largest democracyof the world which is wedded to asecular and deeply liberal Constitutionfor more than half a century, and themilitarist political power structure ofPakistan or the command economyof China that has only recentlystarted moving towards a democraticsystem and more liberal economicrestructuring respectively.

10.2 DEVELOPMENTAL PATH—ASNAPSHOT VIEW

Do you know that India, Pakistan andChina have many similarities in theirdevelopmental strategies? All the threenations have started towards theirdevelopmental path at the same time.While India and Pakistan becameindependent nations in 1947, People’sRepublic of China was established in1949. In a speech at that time,

Geography has made us neighbours. History has made us friends. Economicshas made us partners, and necessity has made us allies. Those whom God hasso joined together, let no man put asunder.

John F. Kennedy

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183COMPARATIVE DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCES OF INDIA AND ITS NEIGHBOURS

Jawaharlal Nehru had said, “Thesenew and revolutionary changes inChina and India, even though theydiffer in content, symbolise the newspirit of Asia and new vitality which isfinding expression in the countries inAsia.”

All three countries had startedplanning their development strategiesin similar ways. While Indiaannounced its first Five Year Plan for1951–56, Pakistan announced its firstfive year plan, now called the MediumTerm Development Plan, in 1956.China announced its First Five YearPlan in 1953. Since 2013, Pakistan isworking on the basis of 11th Five YearDevelopment Plan (2013–18), whereas,China is now working on 13th Five YearPlan (2016–20). Until March 2017,India has been following Five YearPlan- based development model. Indiaand Pakistan adopted similarstrategies, such as creating a largepublic sector and raising publicexpenditure on social development.Till the 1980s, all the three countrieshad similar growth rates and per capitaincomes. Where do they stand todayin comparison to one another? Beforewe answer this question, let us tracethe historical path of developmentalpolicies in China and Pakistan. Afterstudying the last three units, wealready know what policies India hasbeen adopting since its Independence.

China: After the establishment ofPeople’s Republic of China under one-party rule, all critical sectors of theeconomy, enterprises and lands ownedand operated by individuals werebrought under government control.

The Great Leap Forward (GLF)campaign initiated in 1958 aimed atindustrialising the country on amassive scale. People were encouragedto set up industries in their backyards.In rural areas, communes werestarted. Under the Commune system,people collectively cultivated lands. In1958, there were 26,000 communescovering almost all the farmpopulation.

GLF campaign met with manyproblems. A severe drought causedhavoc in China killing about 30 millionpeople. When Russia had conflicts withChina, it withdrew its professionalswho had earlier been sent to China tohelp in the industrialisation process.In 1965, Mao introduced the GreatProletarian Cultural Revolution(1966–76) under which students andprofessionals were sent to work andlearn from the countryside.

The present day fast industrialgrowth in China can be traced back tothe reforms introduced in 1978. Chinaintroduced reforms in phases. In theinitial phase, reforms were initiated inagriculture, foreign trade andinvestment sectors. In agriculture, forinstance, commune lands were dividedinto small plots, which were allocated(for use not ownership) to individualhouseholds. They were allowed to keepall income from the land after payingstipulated taxes. In the later phase,reforms were initiated in the industrialsector. Private sector firms, in general,and township and village enterprises,i.e., those enterprises which wereowned and operated by local collectives,in particular, were allowed to produce

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goods. At this stage, enterprises ownedby government (known as State OwnedEnterprises—SOEs), which we, inIndia, call public sector enterprises,were made to face competition. Thereform process also involved dualpricing. This means fixing the prices intwo ways; farmers and industrial unitswere required to buy and sell fixedquantities of inputs and outputs on thebasis of prices fixed by the governmentand the rest were purchased and soldat market prices. Over the years, asproduction increased, the proportion ofgoods or inputs transacted in themarket also increased. In order toattract foreign investors, specialeconomic zones were set up.

Pakistan: While looking at variouseconomic policies that Pakistanadopted, you will notice manysimilarities with India. Pakistan alsofollows the mixed economy model with

co-existence of public and privatesectors. In the late 1950s and 1960s,Pakistan introduced a variety ofregulated policy framework (for importsubstitution-based industrialisation).The policy combined tariff protection formanufacturing of consumer goodstogether with direct import controls oncompeting imports. The introduction ofGreen Revolution led to mechanisationand increase in public investment ininfrastructure in select areas, whichfinally led to a rise in the production offoodgrains. This changed the agrarianstructure dramatically. In the 1970s,nationalisation of capital goodsindustries took place. Pakistan thenshifted its policy orientation in the late1970s and 1980s when the majorthrust areas were denationalisationand encouragement of private sector.During this period, Pakistan alsoreceived financial support from westernnations and remittances from

Fig. 10.1 Wagah Border is not only a tourist place but also used fortrade between India and Pakistan

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continuously increasing outflow ofemigrants to the Middle-east. Thishelped the country in stimulatingeconomic growth. The then governmentalso offered incentives to the privatesector. All this created a conduciveclimate for new investments. In 1988,reforms were initiated in the country.

Having studied a brief outline ofthe developmental strategies of Chinaand Pakistan, let us now comparesome of the developmental indicatorsof India, China and Pakistan.

10.3 DEMOGRAPHIC INDICATORS

If we look at the global population, outof every six persons living in thisworld, one is an Indian and another aChinese. We shall compare somedemographic indicators of India,China and Pakistan. The populationof Pakistan is very small and accountsfor roughly about one-tenth of Chinaor India.

Though China is the largest nationand geographically occupies the largestarea among the three nations, itsdensity is the lowest. Table 10.1 shows

the population growth as being thehighest in Pakistan, followed by Indiaand China. Scholars point out the one-child norm introduced in China in thelate 1970s as the major reason for lowpopulation growth. They also state thatthis measure led to a decline in the sexratio, the proportion of females per1000 males. However, from the table,you will notice that the sex ratio is lowand biased against females in all threecountries. Scholars cite son preferenceprevailing in all these countries as thereason. In recent times, all threecountries are adopting variousmeasures to improve the situation. One-child norm and the resultant arrest inthe growth of population also have otherimplications. For instance, after a fewdecades, in China, there will be moreelderly people in proportion to youngpeople. This led China to allow couplesto have two children.

The fertility rate is also low inChina and very high in Pakistan.Urbanisation is high in China withIndia having 33 per cent of its peopleliving in urban areas.

TABLE 10.1

Select Demographic Indicators

Country Estimated Annual Density Sex Fertility Urbanisation

Population Growth of (per sq. km) Ratio Rate (2015)(in million) Population (2015) (2015)

(2015) (2015)

India 1311 1.2 441 929 2.3 33

China 1371 0.5 146 941 1.6 56

Pakistan 188 2.1 245 947 3.7 39

Source: World Development Indicators 2017, www.worldbank.org

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10.4 GROSS DOMESTIC

PRODUCT AND

SECTORS

One of the much-talkedissues around the worldabout China is its growthof Gross DomesticProduct. China has thesecond largest GDP (PPP)of $19.8 trillion, whereas,India’s GDP (PPP) is$8.07 trillion andPakistan’s GDP is $ 0.94trillion, roughly about12 per cent of India’sGDP. India’s GDP isabout 40 per cent ofChina’s GDP.

When many developed countrieswere finding it difficult to maintain agrowth rate of even 5 per cent, Chinawas able to maintain near double-digitgrowth for one decade as can be seenfrom Table 10.2. Also, notice that in the1980s, Pakistan was ahead of India;China was having double-digit growthand India was at the bottom. In 2011–15,there has been a decline in India and

Work These Out

Ø Does India follow any population stabilisation measures? If so, collect the

details and discuss in the classroom. You may refer to the latest EconomicSurvey, annual reports or website of the Ministry of Health and FamilyWelfare (http://mohfw.nic.in).

Ø Scholars find son preference as a common phenomenon in many developing

countries, including India, China and Pakistan. Do you find this phenomenonin your family or neighbourhood? Why do people practise discriminationbetween male and female children? What do you think about it? Discuss itin the classroom.

Fig. 10.2 Land use and agriculture in India, China and Pakistan

(Not to scale)

Source: Key Indicators for Asia and Pacific 2016,Asian Development Bank, Philippines; WorldDevelopment Indicators 2016

TABLE 10.2

Annual Growth of Gross DomesticProduct (%), 1980–2015

Country 1980–90 2011–2015

India 5.7 6.7

China 10.3 7.9

Pakistan 6.3 4.0

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China’s growth rates, whereas, Pakistanmet with drastic decline at 4 per cent.Some scholars hold the reformprocesses introduced in 1988 inPakistan and political instability overa long period as reasons behind thistrend. We will study in a later sectionwhich sector contributed to this trendin these countries.

First, look at how people engaged indifferent sectors contribute to the GrossDomestic Product. It was pointed out inthe previous section that China andPakistan have more proportion ofurban population than India. In China,

due to topographic andclimatic conditions,the area suitable forcultivation is relativelysmall — only about 10per cent of its total landarea. The total cultivablearea in China accountsfor 40 per cent of thecultivable area in India.Until the 1980s, morethan 80 per cent of thepeople in China weredependent on farmingas their sole sourceof livelihood. Sincethen, the governmentencouraged peopleto leave their fieldsand pursue otheractivities such ashandicrafts, commerceand transport. In 2014–15,with 28 per cent ofits workforce engagedin agriculture, its

contribution to the GDP in China is9 per cent (see Table 10.3).

In both India and Pakistan, thecontribution of agriculture to GDP were17 and 25 per cent, respectively, butthe proportion of workforce that worksin this sector is more in India. InPakistan, about 43 per cent of peoplework in agriculture, whereas, in India,it is 50 per cent. The sectoral share ofoutput and employment also showsthat in all three economies, theindustry and service sectors have lessproportion of workforce but contributemore in terms of output. In China,

Fig. 10.3 Industry in India, China and Pakistan

(Not to scale)

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manufacturing and service sectorscontribute the highest to GDP at 43and 48 per cent, respectively whereasin India and Pakistan, it is the servicesector which contributes the highestby more than 50 per cent of GDP.

In the normal course ofdevelopment, countries first shift theiremployment and output fromagriculture to manufacturing and thento services. This is what is happeningin China as can be seen from Table10.4. The proportion of workforceengaged in manufacturing in Indiaand Pakistan were low at 21 and 23per cent respectively. The contributionof industries to GDP is at 30 per centin India and 21 per cent in Pakistan.In these countries, the shift is takingplace directly to the service sector.

Thus, in both India and Pakistan,the service sector is emerging as amajor player of development. Itcontributes more to GDP and, at thesame time, emerges as a prospectiveemployer. If we look at the proportionof workforce in the1980s, Pakistanwas faster in shifting its workforce toservice sector than India and China.In the 1980s, India, China and

Pakistan employed 17, 12 and 27 percent of its workforce in the servicesector respectively. In 2014, it hasreached the level of 29, 43 and 34 percent, respectively.

In the last three decades, thegrowth of agriculture sector, whichemploys the largest proportion ofworkforce in all the three countries, hasdeclined. In the industrial sector, Chinahas maintained a near double-digitgrowth rate whereas for India and

TABLE 10.3

Sectoral Share of Employment and GDP (%) in 2014-2015

Sector Contribution to GDP Distribution of Workforce

India China Pakistan India China Pakistan

Agriculture 17 9 25 50 28 43

Industry 30 43 21 21 29 23

Services 53 48 54 29 43 34

Total 100 100 100 100 100 100

Source: World Development Indicators 2016 ; Key Indicators of Asia and Pacific 2016

Work These Out

Ø Do you think it is necessary

for India and Pakistan toconcentrate on the manu-facturing sector as Chinadoes? Why?

Ø Scholars argue that the

service sector should not beconsidered as an engine ofgrowth whereas India andPakistan have raised theirshare of output mainly inthis sector only. What doyou think?

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Pakistan growth rate has declined. Incase of service sector, China was ableto raise its rate of growth during1980–2015, while India and Pakistan

stagnated with its service sectorgrowth. Thus, China’s growth is mainlycontributed by the manufacturing andservice sectors and India’s growth by

the service sector. During this period,Pakistan has shown decelerationin all three sectors.

10.5 INDICATORS OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

You might have studied about the

importance of human development

indicators in the lower classes and the

position of many developed and

developing countries. Let us look how

India, China and Pakistan have

performed in some of the select

indicators of human development.

Look at Table 10.5.

TABLE 10.4

Trends in Output Growth in Different Sectors, 1980–2015

Country 1980–90 2011–15

Agriculture Industry Service Agriculture Industry Service

India 3.1 7.4 6.9 2.3 5 8.4

China 5.9 10.8 13.5 4.1 8.1 8.4

Pakistan 4 7.7 6.8 2.7 3.4 4.4

TABLE 10.5

Some Selected Indicators of Human Development, 2016

Item India China Pakistan

Human Development Index (Value) 0.624 0.738 0.550

Rank (based on HDI) 131 91 148

Life Expectancy at Birth (years) 68.3 76 66.4

Mean years of Schooling (% aged 15 and above) 6.3 7.6 5.1

GDP per capita (PPP US$) 6092 14,400 4866

People Below Poverty Line (at $3.10 a day ppp) (%) (2011) 37 32 44

Infant Mortality Rate (per 1000 live births) 38 9 66

Maternal Mortality Rate (per 1 lakh births) 174 27 178

Population using Improved Sanitation (%) 40 77 64

Population with Sustainable Access to 94 96 91

Improved Water Source (%)

Percentage of Undernourished Children 39 9 45

Source: Human Development Report 2016 and World Development Indicators (www.worldbank.org)

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Table 10.5 shows that China ismoving ahead of India and Pakistan.This is true for many indicators —income indicator such as GDP percapita, or proportion of populationbelow poverty l ine or healthindicators such as mortality rates,access to sanitation, literacy, lifeexpectancy or malnourishment.Pakistan is ahead of India inreducing proportion of people belowthe poverty l ine and also itsperformance in sanitation. Butneither of these two countries havebeen able to save women from maternalmortality. In China, for one lakh births,only 27 women die whereas in Indiaand Pakistan, about 178 and 174women die respectively. Surprisingly allthe three countries report providingimproved drinking water sources formost of its population. You will noticethat for the proportion of people belowthe international poverty rate of $ 3.10a day, India has the largest share ofpoor among the three countries. Findout for yourself how these differencesoccur.

In dealing with or makingjudgements on such questions,however, we should also note a problemwhile using the human developmentindicators given above with conviction.This occurs because these are allextremely important indicators; butthese are not sufficient. Along withthese, we also need what may be called‘liberty indicators’. One such indicatorhas actually been added as a measureof ‘the extent of democraticparticipation in social and political

decision-making’ but it has not beengiven any extra weight. Some obvious‘liberty indicators’ like measures of ‘theextent of Constitutional protectiongiven to rights of citizens’ or ‘the extentof constitutional protection ofthe Independence of the Judiciary andthe Rule of Law’ have not evenbeen introduced so far. Withoutincluding these (and perhaps somemore) and giving them overridingimportance in the list, the constructionof a human development index maybe said to be incomplete and itsusefulness limited.

10.6 DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES — AN

APPRAISAL

It is common to find developmentalstrategies of a country as a model toothers for lessons and guidance fortheir own development. It is particularlyevident after the introduction of thereform process in different parts of theworld. In order to learn from economicperformance of our neighbouringcountries, it is necessary to have anunderstanding of the roots of theirsuccesses and failures. It is alsonecessary to distinguish between, andcontrast, the different phases of theirstrategies. Though countries gothrough their development phasesdifferently, let us take the initiation ofreforms as a point of reference. Weknow that reforms were initiated inChina in 1978, Pakistan in 1988 andIndia in 1991. Let us briefly assess theirachievements and failures in pre- andpost-reform periods.

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Why did China introducestructural reforms in 1978? China didnot have any compulsion to introducereforms as dictated by the World Bankand International Monetary Fund toIndia and Pakistan. The newleadership at that time in China wasnot happy with the slow pace of growthand lack of modernisation in theChinese economy under the Maoistrule. They felt that Maoist vision ofeconomic development based ondecentralisation, self sufficiency andshunning of foreign technology, goodsand capital had failed. Despiteextensive land reforms, collectivisation,the Great Leap Forward and otherinitiatives, the per capita grain outputin 1978 was the same as it was in themid-1950s.

It was found that establishment ofinfrastructure in the areas ofeducation and health, land reforms,long existence of decentralisedplanning and existence of smallenterprises had helped positively inimproving the social and incomeindicators in the post reform period.Before the introduction of reforms,there had already been massiveextension of basic health services inrural areas. Through the communesystem, there was more equitabledistribution of food grains. Expertsalso point out that each reformmeasure was first implemented at asmaller level and then extended on amassive scale. The experimentationunder decentralised governmentenabled to assess the economic, socialand political costs of success or failure.For instance, when reforms were made

in agriculture, as pointed out earlierby handing over plots of land toindividuals for cultivation, it broughtprosperity to a vast number of poorpeople. It created conditions for thesubsequent phenomenal growth inrural industries and built up a strongsupport base for more reforms.Scholars quote many such exampleson how reform measures led to rapidgrowth in China.

Scholars argue that in Pakistanthe reform process led to worsening ofall the economic indicators. We haveseen in an earlier section thatcompared to 1980s, the growth rateof GDP and its sectoral constituentshave fallen in the 1990s.

Though the data on internationalpoverty line for Pakistan is quitehealthy, scholars using the officialdata of Pakistan indicate risingpoverty there. The proportion of poorin 1960s was more than 40 per centwhich declined to 25 per cent in 1980sand started rising again in 1990s. Thereasons for the slow-down of growthand re-emergence of poverty inPakistan’s economy, as scholars putit, are agricultural growth and foodsupply situation were based not onan institutionalised process oftechnical change but on good harvest.When there was a good harvest, theeconomy was in good condition, whenit was not, the economic indicatorsshowed stagnation or negative trends.You will recall that India had to borrowfrom the IMF and World Bank toset right its balance of paymentscrisis; foreign exchange is an essentialcomponent for any country and it is

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Country Exports from India ( Rs in crore) Imports to India (Rs in crore)

2004-2005 2015-2016 Annual 2004-2005 2015-2016 AnnualRate of Rate of

Growth (%) Growth (%)

Pakistan 2,341 14,286 46 427 2884 52

China 25,232 58,932 12 31,892 4,04,043 107

Work These Out

Ø While India has perfromed relatively well vis-à-vis other developing

countries (including its Asian neighbours) in terms of economic growth,

India’s human development indicators are among the worst in the world.

Where India went wrong ? Why did we not take care of our human

resources? Discuss in the classroom.

Ø There is a general perception going around in India that there is sudden

increase in dumping of Chinese goods into India which will have

implications for manufacturing sector in India and also that we do not

engage ourselves in trading with our neighbouring nations. Look at the

following table, which shows exports from India to, and imports from,

Pakistan and China. Interpret the results and discuss in the classroom.

From newspapers and websites and listening to news, collect the details

of goods and services transacted in trading with our neighbours. In order

to get detailed information relating to international trade, you can log on

to the website: http://dgft.gov.in.

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important to know how it can be earned.If a country is able to build up its foreignexchange earnings by sustainable exportof manufactured goods, it need notworry. In Pakistan most foreign exchangeearnings came from remittances fromPakistani workers in the Middle-east andthe exports of highly volatile agriculturalproducts; there was also growingdependence on foreign loans on the onehand and increasing difficulty in payingback the loans on the other.

However, during the last few years,Pakistan has recovered its economicgrowth and has been sustaining. In2015-16, the Annual Plan 2016-17reports that, the GDP registered agrowth of 4.7 per cent, highest whencompared to the previous eight years.while agriculture recorded growthrate far from satisfactory level, industrialand service sectors grew at 6.8and 5.7 per cent respectively. Manymacroeconomic indicators also beganto show stable and positive trends.

10.7 CONCLUSION

What are we learning from thedevelopmental experiences of ourneighbours? India, China and Pakistanhave travelled more than five decades ofdevelopmental path with varied results.Till the late 1970s, all of them weremaintaining the same level of lowdevelopment. The last three decades havetaken these countries to different levels.

India, with democratic institutions,performed moderately, but a majority ofits people still depend on agriculture.Infrastructure is lacking in many partsof the country. It is yet to raise the level ofliving of more than one-fourth of itspopulation that lives below the povertyline. Scholars are of the opinion thatpolitical instability, over-dependence onremittances and foreign aid along withvolatile performance of agriculture sectorare the reasons for the slowdown of thePakistan economy. Yet, last three years,many macroeconomic indicators beganshowing positive and higher growthrates reflecting the economic recovery. InChina, the lack of political freedom andits implications for human rights aremajor concerns; yet, in the last threedecades, it used the ‘market systemwithout losing political commitment’ andsucceeded in raising the level of growthalongwith alleviation of poverty. You willalso notice that unlike India andPakistan, which are attempting toprivatise their public sector enterprises,China has used the market mechanismto ‘create additional social and economicopportunities’. By retaining collectiveownership of land and allowingindividuals to cultivate lands, China hasensured social security in rural areas.Public intervention in providing socialinfrastructure even prior to reforms hasbrought about positive results in humandevelopment indicators in China.

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Recap

Ø With the unfolding of the globalisation process, developing countries

are keen to understand the developmental processes pursued by theirneighbours as they face competition from developed nations as alsoamongst themselves.

Ø India, Pakistan and China have similar physical endowments but

totally different political systems.

Ø All the three countries follow the five-year plan pattern of development.

However, the structures established to implement developmentalpolicies are quite different.

Ø Till the early 1980s, the developmental indicators of all the three

countries, such as growth rates and sectoral contribution towardsnational income, were similar.

Ø Reforms were introduced in 1978 in China, in 1988 in Pakistan and in1991 in India.

Ø China introduced structural reforms on its own initiative while theywere forced upon India and Pakistan by international agencies.

Ø The impact of policy measures were different in these countries — for

instance, one-child norm has arrested the population growth in Chinawhereas in India and Pakistan, a major change is yet to take place.

Ø Even after fifty years of planned development, majority of the workforcein all the countries depends on agriculture. The dependency is greaterin India.

Ø Though China has followed the classical development pattern of

gradual shift from agriculture to manufacturing and then to services,India and Pakistan’s shift has been directly from agriculture to servicesector.

Ø China’s industrial sector has maintained a high growth rate while it

is not so in both India and Pakistan.

Ø China is ahead of India and Pakistan on many human developmentindicators. However these improvements were attributed not to thereform process but the strategies that China adopted in the pre-reformperiod.

Ø While assessing the developmental indicators, one also has to considerthe liberty indicators.

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1. Why are regional and economic groupings formed?

2. What are the various means by which countries are trying tostrengthen their own domestic economies?

3. What similar developmental strategies have India and Pakistanfollowed for their respective developmental paths?

4. Explain the Great Leap Forward campaign of China as initiated in1958.

5. China’s rapid industrial growth can be traced back to its reforms in1978. Do you agree? Elucidate.

6. Describe the path of developmental initiatives taken by Pakistanfor its economic development.

7. What is the important implication of the ‘one child norm’ in China?

8. Mention the salient demographic indicators of China, Pakistan andIndia.

9. Compare and contrast India and China’s sectoral contributiontowards GDP in 2003. What does it indicate?

10. Mention the various indicators of human development.

11. Define the liberty indicator. Give some examples of liberty indicators.

12. Evaluate the various factors that led to the rapid growth in economicdevelopment in China.

13. Group the following features pertaining to the economies of India,China and Pakistan under three heads

• One-child norm

• Low fertility rate

• High degree of urbanisation

• Mixed economy

• Very high fertility rate

• Large population

• High density of population

• Growth due to manufacturing sector

• Growth due to service sector.

EXERCISES

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14. Give reasons for the slow growth and re-emergence of poverty inPakistan.

15. Compare and contrast the development of India, China and Pakistanwith respect to some salient human development indicators.

16. Comment on the growth rate trends witnessed in China and Indiain the last two decades.

17. Fill in the blanks

(a) First Five Year Plan of ________________ commenced in theyear 1956. (Pakistan/China)

(b) Maternal mortality rate is high in _____________. (China/Pakistan)

(c) Proportion of people below poverty line is more in __________.(India/Pakistan)

(d) Reforms in ______________ were introduced in 1978. (China/Pakistan)

1. Organise a class debate on the issue of free trade between Indiaand China and India and Pakistan.

2. You are aware that cheap Chinese goods are available in the market,for example, toys, electronic goods, clothes, batteries etc. Do youthink that these products are comparable in quality and price withtheir Indian counterparts? Do they create a threat to our domesticproducers? Discuss.

3. Do you think India can introduce the one-child norm like China toreduce population growth? Organise a debate on the policies thatIndia can follow to reduce population growth.

4. China’s growth is mainly contributed by the manufacturing sectorand India’s growth by the service sector —prepare a chart showingthe relevance of this statement with respect to the structuralchanges in the last decade in the respective countries.

5. How is China able to lead in all the Human Development Indicators?Discuss in the classroom. Use Human Development Report of thelatest year.


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Books

DREZE, JEAN AND AMARTYA SEN. 1996. India: Economic Development and Social

Opportunity. Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

Articles

RAY, ALOK. 2002. ‘The Chinese Economic Miracle: Lessons to be Learnt.’Economic and Political Weekly, September 14, pp. 3835-3848.

ZAIDI, S. AKBAR. 1999. ‘Is Poverty now a Permanent Phenomenon in Pakistan?’Economic and Political Weekly, October 9, pp. 2943-2951.

Government Reports

Annual Plan 2016-17, Ministry of Planning, Development & Reform, Government ofPakistan accessed from http://pc.gov.pk on 02 January 2017.

Economic Survey, Ministry of Finance, Government of India (for various years).

Human Development Report 2005, United Nations Development Programme,Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Labour Market Indicators, 3rd Edition, International Labour Organisation,Geneva.

Pakistan: National Human Development Report 2003, United NationsDevelopment Programme, Second Impression 2004.

World Development Report 2005, The World Bank, Oxford University Press,New York.

World Development Indicators (for various years), Washington; Human Develop-ment Report 2015, United Nations World Bank Development ProgrammeGeneva; Key Indicators of Asia and Pacific 2016, Asian Development Bank,Philippines.

Websites

www.stats.gov.cnwww.statpak.gov.pkwww.un.orgwww.ilo.orgwww.planningcommission.nic.inwww.dgft.delhi.nic.in

REFERENCES

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indian economic development · march 2012 phalguna 1933 january 2013 pausha 1934 january 2014...

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